The Shadowbender
by shadowwriter13
Summary: After the war the Gaang is ready for the future. But after a strange warning they will deal with a figure that may change everything.
1. That Morning

_Hey guys. First try at this so hope I did ok with it. It'll start slow but just stick with it. Enjoy_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. **

**The Shadowbender**

**Chapter1: That Morning**

**Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki ****5d ASC (After Sozin's Comet)**

**Palace Room**

It was like the sea before a storm. _Peaceful. _Aang breathed in the morning air, letting it fill him up. With a slow exhale he opened his eyes to observe his view from the Fire Nation palace.

They had returned from Ba Sing Se last night to begin rebuilding. There was plenty of work to be done around the world, but it needed to start here.

_It all needs to start here _Aang thought. He continued to breath in and out letting the cool, crisp air help him think of last nights events.

Zuko had done a good job of trying to leave without anyone's notice. But Toph with her radar sense had caught him in act of escape. He seemed to think that the rebuilding of the Fire Nation was his problem and his alone. He wanted to take care of it all himself, but Aang had refused point blank to that. He was the Avatar after all and fixing the world was just as much his problem as Zuko's. After arguing late into the night Zuko yielded and had brought everyone who wished back to the Fire Nation by boat a few days after preparing for their visit.

Aang also thought back to those past few days in Ba Sing Se. In Zuko's words, those had been the last days of bliss before the real world would be back, front and center.

_He was right _thought Aang grudgingly. Those days had been peaceful and enjoyable filled with laughter and, for the first time in a while, no daunting issues. Now the road for rebuilding was all that was in front of them and the rest of the world.

_Well, that's what you get after a hundred year war. _Aang sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. He continued to watch the shining sun and the sparkling sea for a while, silhouetting the Fire Nation building. It was a truly beautiful sight, and it gave Aang a much needed boost.

_We'll be alright, as long as we stick together. _He jumped down onto the window sill to examine his still sleeping friends. Sokka was in a comical position, arms and legs spread out and bent out of shape, and snoring with drool hanging from his mouth. Aang let out a small chuckle. Suki was sleeping closest to Sokka, facing him and smiling, as though as she had fallen asleep looking at the funny figure of her boyfriend.

And next to Aang discarded sheet was the most beautiful girl in the world in his opinion. Katara was sleeping, dreaming far away dreams, with a small smile on her face. Aang smiled at all his friends and felt a stab of sadness that there friend Toph was not there. The absence of her private rock tent was like a gaping hole in the group. She had ultimately decided to stay behind, assisting the returning Earth King with whatever duties needed to be done.

Right now though, Aang was especially happy Katara was here. She would help him get through anything and she loved him as much as he loved her. And if Aang was right he would need all the love and support he could get while trying to fix things. As though Aang's thought had reached out and shook Katara awake her eyes opened sleepily. She sat up and stretched out, yawning quietly. She immediately noticed Aang was not next to her and looked for him, smiling when she saw he was already wide awake.

"Good morning to you early bird," she said. She walked over to him and kissed him on his forehead.

"Good morning to you too," Aang replied. He hopped down and returned her kiss. They just stood there in each others arms to what seemed like forever to Aang, just the two of them. No troubles, worries, or problems to weigh them down. There was another loud yawn and an abrupt end to the snoring behind them.

"Hey, is it time for breakfast already?" Sokka asked sleepily. Aang and Katara both laughed.

"Is that all you ever think about?" Katara replied, still laughing.

"I was wondering the same thing," Suki, who had just woken up, said.

Sokka tapped his finger on his chin thinking hard, "Mmmmmmm…..no, I think about you."

Suki giggled at that and allowed Sokka to plant a kiss on both of her cheeks.

"Nice to know food isn't all that matters in your life," Katara giggled.

"Hey what is this gang up on Sokka day? I care about Suki, food, my boomerang, and my space sword…….." Sokka began.

"Not always in that order," laughed Aang. Everyone except Sokka laughed at that.

"Oh who asked all of you?" muttered Sokka. Everyone stood up still chuckling and yawning.

"Oh, alright Sokka, we can go get breakfast since I know you want to so bad," said Suki.

"OH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" Sokka yelled excitedly. He grabbed Suki by her hand and dragged her out of the room and down the hall. Aang and Katara shook their heads, laughing at their goofy little group. _But we wouldn't have it any other way _thought Aang. Still chuckling they followed them hand in hand.

**Zuko, Mai, Iroh **

**Palace Dining Room **

"Here you are Fire Lord Zuko, some fresh tea for you." Iroh placed the cup in front of his nephew.

"Thank you Uncle," Zuko said. He took a sip of his uncle's tea and, even with so much on his mind right now, couldn't help but be impressed with his uncle's tea skill.

"And some for you Ms. Mai," Mai nodded her head,

"Thank you General Iroh,"

Iroh lets out a booming laugh, "Oh no, no, you must also call me Uncle, General is much too formal." Zuko glances up form his papers, interested to see how this one would play out.

"Alright then…….Uncle," Mai complied, but the word sounded foreign in Mai's mouth.

Still chuckling Iroh left to take care of his tea pot.

"You handled that well," commented Zuko, unable to keep some amusement from his voice. Mai glared at him and Zuko quickly looked back down at his papers. Minutes passed in silence with Iroh taking a seat at the table, also sipping his tea. Iroh was the one to finally break the silence.

"Lord Zuko, since your birthday is tomorrow I believe its time to ask, what do you plan to do for your birthday party tomorrow?" Zuko looked up quickly.

"Party? What party? There's no party."

"Well no, not yet," Iroh said. "But I think that as a new Fire Lord you should show some hospitality to your supporters, and possibly win over some doubters."

"I don't know Uncle," muttered Zuko. "I'm not really one for parties……or people."

"Yes I am aware of that Zuko, but you must put that aside and show your people your grace. It would be a good relaxation before we went down the troubled road of recovery." Iroh said. Zuko sighed in defeat. As always Uncle Iroh's wisdom was sound.

"I guess your right Uncle."

"Good," smiled Iroh, "because I have already sent out invitations and the decorators been hard at work for a while now."

"Wait, WHAT?!! Who did you get?" Zuko demanded. He couldn't see how this had all been secret from him since it was his palace. His question was answered by a squeal from behind him.

"Zuko! Mai!" said the voice and he suddenly felt like he was in a vice grip from the hug he was in.

"Ty Lee? Is that you?" Zuko wheezed.

"YES, YES, YES!!!" she squealed, tightening her hold. "Ohhhhhhh, I've wanted to see you guys for so long but I couldn't because that would have ruined the surprise, but now you know so we can hang out and have so much fun, yay!!!"

"Ty Lee," Mai gasped, "your killing us!"

"Oh right sorry!" she said relinquishing her hold. They both gasped for breath and massaged their throats.

"How long have you been here?" asked Zuko.

"Oh since yesterday," said Ty Lee smiling, "Your uncle sent me a letter asking me to beat you guys here so I could start decoration. I thought it would the perfect thing to do to have some fun so here I am."

"How did you know that I'd say yes to all of this?" Zuko asked his uncle, eyebrows raised.

Iroh laughed, "Because I am your Uncle." There talk was interrupted by the arrival of Suki and Sokka.

"Zuko, please tell me you have food." Sokka pleaded. Zuko raised and eyebrow at Sokka.

"Is food all you ever think about?" he asked. Sokka frowned and looked hurt.

"See now, why does everyone always ask me that question? Its breakfast time I'm _supposed _to be hungry."

"Right," muttered Zuko motioning to his servants to bring food. Suki meanwhile had spotted Ty Lee.

"Ty Lee?"

"SUKI!!!!" Ty Lee squealed. She bounded over to her and bowed before catching her in a bear hug. "It's so good to see you again."

"Good to see you too. Where are the other Kyoshi warriors?" Suki asked looking for them.

"Oh, they came with me don't worry." Ty Lee explained, "All I had to do was convince them to come to the party. They seemed to like the idea of a few days off."

"What party? We're having a party?" asked Suki, looking confused. Before they had time to answer Aang and Katara walked in.

"Yeah what party?" asked Katara. Aang nodded toward the Fire Lord.

"Zuko," he said respectively.

"Aang," he returned.

"So what party is this?" Katara asked.

"Zuko's birthday party silly," Ty Lee laughed. "It's going to be great!" She threw her hands up as if to show how awesome it would be.

"I didn't know you where having a party," said Aang.

"Neither did I till five minutes ago," admitted Zuko.

"That will be fun I haven't been to party in a long time." said Katara dreamily swaying to a tune in her head. They where interrupted by the arrival of servants holding trays stacked with food.

"Oh sweet mother," groans Sokka and he immediately grabs as much food as possible. Suki rolls her eyes at him and turns back to Ty Lee.

"So where are the other warriors at?"

"They're probably still decorating," said Ty Lee. "They really started getting into it. The ball rooms gonna look so beautiful. You wanna come see it?"

"Oh I don't know…"

"Just come on silly," Ty Lee squealed and she grabbed Suki's hand. "I know they'll like to see you, too." Ty Lee then proceeded to drag Suki down the hall.

"I'll be back," Suki yelled back to the group.

"M'kay," Sokka grunts spraying food out of his mouth.

"You know if you keep eating like that I'm going to lose my appetite real fast," said Katara closing her eyes in disgust.

"Well then don't watch me," he said spraying Aang with food. "Oops…sorry Aang." Ty Lee stuck her head back in through the door.

"Hey guys I almost forgot to tell you. Someone came back with me for the party!"

"I didn't come back for the party!" cut in a cross voice from behind him.

"Hey I know that voice!" said Sokka.

"Look who it is," squealed Ty Lee. She threw open the double doors to reveal an annoyed Toph.

"I didn't come for that stupid party; I came to get out of that walled city. Jeez!"

"Right," said Ty Lee bubbly, "I'll leave you guys to catch up." She turned and left to join Suki and the others.

"Thanks for the grand entrance," muttered Toph angrily.

"Good to have you here Toph," said Aang excited at his friends arrival. "Now it can almost be like old times again."

"Yeah without the bubbly queen if you don't mind," said Toph, "You can only take so much of that."

"Tell me about it," muttered Mai.

"So Sparky's turning seventeen? Nice that you made it this far right?" laughed Toph punching Zuko where the scar from Azula's lightning bolt had struck.

Zuko let out a weak chuckle. "Yeah, kind of nice actually."

"Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen," Toph said rounding on Aang and Katara, "You guys staying out of trouble?" Aang and Katara both blushed.

"Yeah." "Yeah, were good."

"Good," Toph smirked.

"What no hello for me?" demanded Sokka.

"Oh no, how could I forget you Blubber Brain," Toph mocked slugging Sokka in the shoulder.

"Owwwwww…" moaned Sokka, rubbing his shoulder. Toph smirked. She turned to Iroh next giving him the only respectful greeting.

"General," she said bowing. Iroh laughed,

"What is with you people calling me general? It's Uncle Iroh."

"Alright Uncle Iroh," smiled Toph. She simply nodded at Mai who nodded back. They all continued with breakfast, telling jokes and saying what had been going on for the past few days. Even Mai got in on a few conversations. After everyone finished Zuko broke the happy bubble, his face grim.

"You ready?" he asked Aang. Aang sighed, frustrated that their moment couldn't last any longer.

"I'm ready." he replied. The entire atmosphere at the table changed as politics where an incredibly touchy subject. Today Aang would be preparing for a meeting of nation leaders to decide where the most help would go to rebuild and to take care of rouge Fire Nation separatists. "What did you find out?" he addressed Zuko first.

"Obviously our problems aren't rebuilding as much as dealing with separatists that refuse to disarm now that the war is over. There is only one naval base on this main land that refuses to disarm. I suggest we take that back before we focus on the smaller islands." Aang thought with his eyes closed before nodding and turning to Toph.

"And things in the Earth Kingdom?"

Toph shrugged, "The Earth Kingdoms big so it's going to take a while. We have to rebuild all the cities that where burnt down and take back which ones couldn't escape the rouge soldiers. Most big cities like Ba Sing Se and Omashu are alright, but the countryside's are too big to cover all at once. Most small villages don't have a defense and their getting crushed.

Aang nodded again and turned to Katara. "What news did your dad have?"

Katara consulted a letter in her pocket, "He says that all quadrants are empty in the South Pole but the North Pole still has some 15 fire nation ships in its area. Chief Arnook fears that they will attack and try to fortify there."

Aang nodded a third time. He opened his eyes and studied his friends. "Alright nothing is official until the meeting, but this is how I think things are going to go. In rebuilding the Earth Kingdom does require the most help because it has suffered the most. Most of the relief will probably go to them. However, Toph makes a good point in saying that the Earth Kingdom is a lot of ground to cover, meaning that most relief soldiers will deal with the separatists in the Fire Nation and North Pole."

"So your just gonna leave us out to dry then?" demanded Toph.

"No, but I remember something Bumi once told me. Sometimes we need to wait and listen for the right moment to strike. I feel that sending to many troops in a wide countryside like that would be futile and cause more soldiers to go rouge." Toph didn't nod but she didn't object either. "So it's decided then." When no one said otherwise Aang smiled, "Good."

"So are you going to come with us then?" asked Zuko.

"Come where?" questioned Aang.

"Me and a group of soldiers are going to take back that Fire Nation naval base." Zuko replied.

"You're going now?" Aang asked confused.

Zuko raised an eyebrow, "Were going to a party tomorrow. You got a better time?"

Aang sighed, "I guess not," he stood grudgingly. Zuko turned to Mai.

"I'll be back soon," he muttered.

"Hurry," she whispered and gave him a kiss.

"I'll see you guys soon," said Aang waving to the others.

"Alright," Sokka grunted and then let out a satisfied burp.

"Take care Twinkle Toes," laughed Toph

Katara gave him a hug, "Be safe," she whispered.

"I will," replied Aang. He kissed her and hurried after Zuko. They watched them go and then sat in silence for a few seconds.

"You know I will never get used to you kissing him," Sokka suddenly said.

"Oh shut up Sokka," Katara said, shaking her head. _What a morning _she thought_._

"Does anyone want to play pai sho?" asked Iroh.

**­­­­­­**

_Yeah I know it's really slow. Every story has to start somewhere right? Well hope you enjoyed it anyway. I promise it gets better just keep reading. Give the criticism and critiques. _


	2. The Party

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar________________________________________________________________________________**

**­­­­­­­­­­­**

**Chapter2: The Party**

**Zuko, Mai 6d ASC**

**Dressing Room**

"Come on Zuko it's an hour before your own party and you can't even figure out what you want to wear?" demanded Mai. She was already testy mood. Zuko and Aang had run into severe complications with the re-taking of the naval base. Turned out that the whole regime where firebenders and they had commandeered the catapults to inflict _massive _damage. They had returned very late into the night, scorched and tired, but feeling successful. That was until they had run into their respective girlfriends. Both had gotten a very lengthy lecture and cold shoulders all day.

"Hey, I never go to parties!" defended Zuko. "How would I have anything to wear?"

Mai shook her head in exasperation, "Just wear the red one," she said rolling her eyes.

"I thought you liked the black one," he groaned.

"No, I'm wearing a black dress. If you wear black it will look like we are going to a funeral." Mai was losing her patience.

"Ok. Wait, which red one?" Zuko cried. Mai sighed, hands in her face. She took a deep breath and stood trying to be calm. She put a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"Look, I know you're nervous, but you're the _Fire Lord_!" she emphasized the last two words. "You're a hero in Sozin's war and you just got done liberating a Fire Nation base. You will do fine!"

Zuko let out a long sight, "I know I'll probably do fine. But I'm not good with people. At all! You've seen me I get really nervous! I want to be a good, strong leader, but Spirits I'm not even of age!" He slumped onto the bed, head hung.

Mai sat down next to him and put an arm around him. "Look Zuko, I know you're afraid but you deserve to be here. The Avatar believes in you, your uncle believes in you, and I believe in you." Zuko didn't look up. Mai put a hand under his chin and looked into his eyes. "I love you."

Their lips met and Zuko felt his troubles slip away. They sat there not doing anything but sharing that passionate kiss. They separated and Zuko gave a little grin.

"There we go," said Mai capitalizing on the grin, "Now go get ready. I need to, too." She turned to leave the room. Zuko couldn't help but smile again as he watched her go. _She's right _he thought. _It'll be ok._

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Katara, Aang**

**Palace Rooms**

Aang and Katara were both not ready. They had spent most of the day, hand in hand simply sitting on the window sill in their bedroom watching the sky. Katara had eventually given in to Aang's apologies and they had made up for lost time the day before. It had been pleasant while it lasted. They had just kissed and stayed close, just how Aang liked it. Now they were in a mad rush to not be late for the party.

"Damn, we're going to be so late!" yelled Aang. He had been the one to notice that they where supposed to be somewhere tonight.

"I know, I know. I'm going to get ready," Katara yelled back. She turned and almost ran over Sokka who had just walked in.

"Hey watch it," yelled Sokka angrily something his nice cloths. Katara paid no attention to him and sprinted down the hall. Sokka looked around smugly as Aang ran around the room looking for something to wear. "You guys aren't close to being ready. Oh, Zuko's going to be so mad if you guys aren't there." He seemed gleeful at that fact that Zuko would be mad….or Aang being in trouble.

"I know I'm hurrying!" exclaimed Aang holding a ripped pair of pant and a robe up. "No, no that's not it." Aang puzzled over what he should do before it hit him. "I got it!" He pushed a big wave of air down to force all the clothing strewn about the room up into the air. With a few impressive leaps he picked out some and dived behind the changing station. "How do I look?" he asked coming out arms held wide for Sokka's approval. Sokka put his hand on his chin and looked Aang up and down. He had chosen the colors of his people and was not a bad mix. He had a long sleeve shirt of orange with yellow stripes going down his arms, and a single yellow circle in the middle. The pants where the opposite; yellow with orange stripes from the waist down. He was wearing some nice brown boots on his feet to finish it off.

"Not bad seeing as you picked it out in five minutes." shrugged Sokka.

"Alright let me see you then," replied Aang. Sokka was wearing a light blue shirt with a dark blue over piece that looked like something his father, Hakoda, sometimes wore. His pants were also light blue, and he was wearing black boots. He finished it with a knee length dark blue over coat. Aang gave him thumbs up, "Very nice." The doors behind them opened signaling the arrival of their dates. They turned to greet them and their jaws dropped.

Both Katara and Suki seemed to have a glow about them and smiled sheepishly at their boyfriends' expression. Suki was wearing in a light green outfit, the same color as her Kyoshi warrior outfit. The straps hung around the side of her arms and the length stopped right about her ankles, revealing small high heels. Katara was wearing a sea blue outfit. Her dress was strapless and came down long enough to cover her feet. She had also done her hair like when Aang first met her with "hair loopies".

"Wow," both boys muttered. They both were having the same thought that they were the luckiest boys in the world.

"Come on guys we're going to be late," yelled Aang. They were running for Appa as fast as they could to avoid being late.

"Coming," yelled back Katara and Suki. They began arguing with someone that Aang and Sokka couldn't see.

"Who are they talking to?" asked Aang.

"I don't know but we're going to be late," growled Sokka. Katara and Suki finally caught up to them with an annoyed Toph in between them. She was wearing a nice white dress with a flower design around her waist, much like the one she had wore when they had first met her.

"Woah nice dress Toph," Sokka sniggered.

"Shut up Blubber Brain," Toph huffed, slugging him in the shoulder.

"Owwwwww!" whined Sokka. The others just laughed.

"Why do we have to take Appa anyway," demanded Toph. "It's not like the ball room is that far away."

"It tradition according to Zuko," replied Aang.

"Yeah riding a flying bison to a party is really traditional," pointed out Sokka.

"Hey I just do what I'm told," shrugged Aang. The ride was, as they knew, really short and Sokka seemed to be correct. No one in the line of arriving party guest looked like they had expected to see a flying bison. The pair right behind where they had landed had their hair blown back from the force of Appa's tail. They were obviously frightened out of their minds.

"Don't worry he won't bite," Aang assured the frightened guests.

"But he may sneeze on you," said Sokka. Appa simply rumbled at him. The guards where especially flustered.

"Where ummmm...would you ummmm…like us to ummmm…do with your ummmm…flying….bison?" they stammered.

"Just feed him some hay and water and he'll be fine." Aang told them. He turned his back to them and offered his arm to Katara. She took it and the five of them walked into Fire Lord Zuko's seventeenth birthday party side by side.

**Zuko, Mai, Iroh**

**Ballroom**

"Uh, why aren't they here yet?" demanded Zuko. He threw his hands up and continued his pacing. "If they're late I'm going to…." he stopped to try and think of an appropriate punishment. "I'm going to kill them!" he finished. Mai put head in her gloved hand. She was wearing a black dress, no straps, and long black gloves. Zuko looked on top of the world when he had first seen her but now the high he had before had worn off.

Iroh simply chuckled, "Zuko, loosen up. You're at a party not preparing to fight Azula again.

"I'd take another round with her," muttered Zuko.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing again," said Mai rolling her eyes. "You will do fine." When he didn't stop pacing she stepped in front of him and looked into his eyes. "I'll even be with through it all."

Zuko grinned, "Alright I'll chill."

"Good," she said giving him a kiss, "now I need to check on Ty Lee, she made me swear I'd help with her dress." She turned and left the room. Zuko couldn't help but notice her beauty. His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps.

"It's about time!" he yelled rounding on Aang.

"I know, I know," defended Aang taking a step back. "I'm sorry, we got sidetracked."

"Well at least you're here now," muttered Zuko. "You're lucky you got here when you did the guest will be here any..." he was cut off by the opening of the main doors. "Damn," muttered Zuko, "here we go."

"Good luck," Sokka chuckled.

"Shut up," Zuko replied. He then put on a smile to greet his first guests.

**Everyone**

**The Party**

They party was in full swing; people dancing, eating, talking, and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Aang and Katara were talking and enjoying themselves watching Sokka battle with dancing with Suki or stuff his face at the buffet. Suki was winning but not by much. Toph was sulking on the outside of the throng. She leaned on a pole, arms crossed, and glaring at everybody. Many boys where trying hard to get her to dance, but none had been able to talk to her for more than two minutes. Ty Lee was, as always, surrounded by a group of boys wanting to dance with her or be the lucky one to have on their arm. Zuko and Mai were the busiest of all. They moved from one guest to the next having their hands wrung and being wished happy birthday and many returns. So many people talked to Zuko he was really having trouble keeping track of the conversations. He finally managed to extract himself from more well wishers and tracked down his uncle. He was drinking his tea with a group of other old generals and playing an intense game of pai sho.

"Uncle what have you got me into?" demanded Zuko. "It's a mad house in here."

"What are you talking about?" asked Iroh innocently. "This is the most fun I've had in a long time."

Zuko growled under his breath but was dragged away to the next group of well wishers before he could go on.

Finally came the time to cut Zuko's cake. A guard stood at the top of the stairs and announced in a booming voice, "Let us all turn our attention to Fire Lord Zuko." Everyone looked at Zuko who was center stage with a huge cake. "As of this moment our Fire Lord is seventeen!" cried the guard. Zuko cut his birthday cake and an enormous flaming phoenix erupted from the top, shining brightly before dissipating. Mai gave Zuko a kiss and everyone started clapping. Aang joined the guests' in clapping, chuckling at the look on his friends face.

Then very slowly, Aang noticed something strange. Everyone seemed to slow down little by little. Noise sounded muffled and distorted. Before long all sound stopped and everyone froze in position. Aang looked around in confusion.

"What the-," he was cut off by the sudden feeling of being jerked backwards. He felt like he was flying at very high speeds, through the palace walls and up into the air. The speed made Aang feel sick so he closed his eyes. When it felt like the motion had stopped he opened them. He was in a red room that seemed to have no texture at all. He knew this had to do with the spirit world.

"Hello?" he called timidly. He was answered by the appearance of Avatar Roku. "Roku? What's going on?"

"I apologize Aang. I would not bother you if it was not a matter of great importance." said Roku.

"Of course, what happened?" asked Aang. "Did Ozai escape or something?" Aang shuddered at the horror of the angry vengeful ex-Fire Lord.

"No nothing like that. Though I do fear it could become much worse." said Roku somberly.

"Worse? How is that even possible? I just get done ending a 100 year war, I have to rebuild four nations, and figure out every other problem people have and your telling me its going to get worse?" demanded Aang. Roku sighed sadly.

"Aang, you have dealt with twice as much as most Avatars, but if this problem is not dealt with everything you have worked for will have all been for nothing. If you don't deal with this the future will have never been bleaker before."

Aang sighed in defeat, "Alright, what is it? What do I need to know about this guy?"

"Well that's the frustrating part," said Roku. "Even the spirits can't figure out who this mystery person is or what he can do."

"So why even bother telling me?" asked an annoyed Aang.

"Because even if we don't know what he can do, your future still holds that if you meet this stranger and fail to stop him, your future will be no more." The gruesome picture of a shapeless figure rushing toward a defeated Aang played out in his mind.

"Where should I look for him?" asked Aang.

"He will be coming Aang. Be watchful and be careful. There is a lot of confusion in this figure. He is cunning, smart, and powerful. But confused and scared and that can be a dangerous combination." The older Avatar looked at Aang with worried eyes. "Aang you must be watchful this could be the beginning of a very bad thing."

"I will Avatar Roku," assured Aang.

"Good," said Roku, "now I believe you have a party to attend. Be safe Aang and be careful." Avatar Roku began to fade leaving Aang alone in the strange room. Then all at once Aang was zooming forward again. Back down toward the palace and to his spot before the vision. It was like someone had turned back up the sound and everyone was moving again.

"Aang? Aang!" Katara was yelling in his ear.

"Oh, yeah what?" Aang stammered trying to recover. Some people had noticed the strange glowing of his tattoos and were starring at him. Toph, Sokka, and Suki had all made identical movements towards Aang but he just brushed them off.

"I'm fine," he mouthed. "FINE!" Sokka told Toph what he said and she resumed her care free position, but did not stop frowning in Aang's direction. Even Zuko had noticed and was looking concerned at him. They made eye contact and Aang just waved him on.

"Would the Fire Lord and his lady privilege us with a dance?" asked the guard.

"Ohhhh…..ummmm…" Zuko looked at Mai but she didn't seem pleased at the idea of the spotlight either.

"No we couldn't-," she began.

"They'd love to," cut in Iroh. He gave them a push onto the floor. They both gave him a death glare and he gave them thumbs up. Then the spot light was on them and they began dancing. The music was low, soft, sweet, and soothing but as Aang watched his mind wandered. What had Roku ment? What was worse than Ozai? Katara brought him back to reality.

"Come on Aang lets dance," she said. Apparently everyone was joining Zuko and Mai on the dance floor. Aang grinned and allowed himself to be dragged into the dance. At least he could enjoy the peace a little more. At least until he informed his friends and the worrying began.

**Outskirts **

Where was he? Complete darkness enveloped him. _I have to get out of here _he thought. He crawled around desperately searching for any daylight. He found it located behind him, and he scrambled up the incline to the mouth of the cave. Ohhhh… why did his head hurt so bad? Who was whispering? He could hear them. They sounded far away. Or were they close, and just whispering softly in his ear. Oh they made his head hurt. He? Who was he? He couldn't think right now his head hurt too much. He'd remember as soon as his head stopped hurting.

He reached the entrance of the cave and stood. The chilly air made him shiver. He had no shirt and his pants were torn and ratty. But the worst was the voices were still there. They echoed off the rocks and made his head hurt worse. He had to move, his head couldn't take it any more. He stumbled down the slope clutching his head. He couldn't tell where he was and had no idea how to tell where he was.

"Stop whispering," he muttered. They continued whispering and whispering. He couldn't even understand them there were so many voices. They just kept whispering and whispering. He let out a low moan. He clutched his head again and continued down the slope. He shuffled to make sure not to fall over, just trying to get away from the voices. He continued to stumble, clutching his head as he headed towards the distance.

**­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­**

_See told you it would get better. Who's crazy mystery guy with the head problems. Hope you enjoyed the second chapter. More are a comin' just look for them. Make sure to comment and leave suggestions. You guys are as much in charge here as me here. _


	3. The Arrival

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.**

**Chapter3: The Arrival **

**_______________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Everyone 7d ASC**

**The Dining Room**

"So Roku was warning you about something…or someone that the Spirits don't even know about?" asked Sokka for the fifth time. Aang let out a long sigh. He had told the story ten times it seemed like and they still didn't understand it.

"Yes," he said exasperated, "he kept saying that this guy would be the down fall of everyone in the future…..especially in my future!" Everyone sat silent as those words sank in.

"When did he say you would meet this mysterious stranger?" asked Zuko.

"He wasn't sure," replied Aang. "Like I said, everything Roku told me was kind of speculation. All he knew for sure was that this stranger would be showing up soon."

Katara sighed sadly, "Do we really need more problems? We just finished a hundred year war and still have to reconstruct the world."

"I know that's what I told Roku," said Aang. "But according to Roku if we don't figure out who this guy is and stop him, all we sacrificed will have been for nothing."

"Well then looks like I decided to visit at the right time Twinkle Toes," Toph smirked. Even with the prospect of fighting the epitome of all evil Toph was still ready to take on anything. Aang couldn't help but admire her for that.

"Yeah looks like you did," Aang grinned. They at it silence for a few uncomfortable seconds. Aang mulled over, not this strange figure, but how his friends had taken it.

When he had first told them they had all acted exactly as expected. They had all been shocked and unbelieving; Sokka even thought Aang was trying to joke with them. Eventually Aang's seriousness won out and they all took it their own way.

Zuko had been worried, but confident that this guy would be stopped. Aang thought he was a little over confident but it was nice that at least he was. Mai, who rarely spoke in anyone's presence besides Zuko's, had somehow clamed up even more. However, she had those eyes of a hunter that always seemed to be thinking, much like Zuko's, so Aang knew she was considering all the variables.

Sokka and Suki were trying to think of strategies for catching this guy. Sokka also was trying to think up of a nickname for him so they didn't have to keep saying "the guy". _Yep same old Sokka _thought Aang.

Toph had simply shrugged the whole thing off as only Toph could. She claimed that after defeating Fire Lord Ozai and all the Fire Nation that one more bozo wouldn't be a problem. _Same old Toph too _thought Aang and couldn't repress a grin. She was like a rock, tough and strong.

Katara's reaction had been hardest for Aang. It wasn't anything like she usually was. There was no hopeful reassurance and no excitement at the thought of adventure like there had been at the other times things had come up. Now she just seemed…sad. As though this was the straw that broke the camels back and every problem they had ever had had just crashed down on her.

Aang put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you all right?" Katara looked into his eyes. Aang could see she was tired, sad, and scared and it hurt him to see her like this.

"Yeah I'm alright," she said. She even managed to put on a smile for him, but Aang could see how fake it was.

"Are you even sure that it's here in the Fire Nation that this "guy" will strike?" asked Mai. Everyone looked at her in surprise. Since she so rarely spoke in front of them it was a surprise to here her speak.

She raised an eyebrow at everyone, "Yes she speaks." Everyone looked away pointedly. Mai turned back to Aang, "How do you know that this guy is Fire Nation? He could be Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe couldn't he? Roku said that the Spirits couldn't even figure this guy out, so it's possible isn't it?"

Aang nodded his agreement, "Yes that's all possible, but I don't believe this guy will attack here because he's Fire Nation. I just believe since Roku mentioned that we would meet this "guy" soon he would come here."

Mai rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

"And this vision you had of "the guy". You didn't get a good look at him?" asked Suki.

Aang shook his head, "Like I said it was a strange vision. It wasn't like my other ones. This guy's face was coved and he seemed…fuzzy."

Sokka raised an eyebrow, "Fuzzy? Are we dealing with an evil Appa here?" Everyone at the table groaned.

"Does he always do that?" muttered Mai to Suki.

"Pretty much," Suki giggled.

"I'm sorry for you," returned Mai, and a small smile crossed her face. Suki's giggling increased. Zuko noticed the exchange and grinned himself. Maybe Mai would fit into their little group nicely after all.

"No not like that," said Aang to Sokka. "It was like he was…out of focus. Like I was looking through a messed up telescope at him."

"Ohhhh…right," Sokka said, grinning sheepishly.

"So how do you plan to deal with this guy?" asked Toph. Everyone at the table stiffened. They had reached the hard part of this breakfast meeting. They all remembered the trouble Aang had with the prospect of killing Fire Lord Ozai and they weren't sure he'd kill this guy either. "Are you just gonna, you know, energybend him again and lock him up?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do," admitted Aang. "I mean I don't know who this guy is, where he comes from, what he wants, or what he can do. I might just have to wing it and hope I can settle it with out…killing anyone.

"Yeah and with us having your back we'll show Mr. "supreme evil" what happens when someone messes with our world, Team Avatar style!" Sokka yelled slicing his hand through the air. Everyone looked at him and groaned again.

"What? What?!" demanded Sokka.

After breakfast everyone went their separate ways. Aang searched the group for Katara and saw her sneaking down a hallway behind everyone else.

"Katara…Katara!" he yelled after her.

Katara stopped and looked back, "What is it?" she asked.

Aang caught up with her and they walked down the hallway together.

"You going to be ok?" he asked her.

"Yeah I'm fine," she replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," shrugged Aang. "You just seemed really down. Like something was bothering you."

"Well you did just announce that a mysterious "guy" was coming to kill us all," she answered.

"It's more than that though isn't it?" Aang countered. They continued to walk a little more, Katara not answering. "Katara…" Aang began.

"Come on," she cut in, and dragged him to an open courtyard. She sat down on a bench next to a little pond and motioned for him to take a seat beside her.

He did so, "What is it?" Aang asked again.

She sighed a sad sigh that seemed to go through Aang like a knife. He had never seen Katara so dejected or so…hopeless.

"Come on Katara, talk to me," pleaded Aang.

"Look Aang it just that, well you know we just finished freeing the world from one-hundred years of war and tyranny. Now we have one-hundred years of recovery to look forward to, and now on top of that, we have a super evil guy that we have no idea about coming to make our lives miserable so I guess I'm just…afraid and tired. That's all." she finished.

Aang didn't know what to say to that. He'd always seen Katara as the one with to much hope in her to despair like this. She had always lifted Aang up when he was down, and it seemed a tad ironic to Aang that now he was trying to lift her spirits.

"Look Katara," he began taking her hand, "we have been through so much-"

"Exactly!" Katara cut in. "So why do we have to deal with this now? Why can't we have a break, just a little peace for ourselves?"

Aang chuckled, "I ask myself that everyday Katara I really do. But I've learned something important from all our journeys. That is that whatever the universe throws at us, we always do it together…and we always get through it together."

Aang lifter her head so he could look into her eyes, "And if there is one thing I've learned from you Katara it's that I should always have hope." Katara smiled a little bit.

"Now we got through Sozin's War, we will get through all the rebuilding and we'll get through this mysterious evil. Just have faith Katara, we've been through a lot, and this won't be any different."

"Yes but we didn't get through all that unscratched. That war did a real number on you," she said touching the spot on his back that he knew held the scar from Azula's lightning bolt strike. It had also been where Ozai had thrown him into the mountain side, unlocking his seventh chakra and sealing his defeat, but it had still hurt after the fight.

"We'll be fine," Aang repeated. He was really starting to worry about her.

"Maybe, Aang, maybe," she sighed. "But what if you go down again? What if you go down and I can't bring you back?" Tears began to well up in her eyes and trickle down her cheeks. It hurt Aang bad to see her in this pain.

"Hey," he said and he locked eyes with her. They were inches apart from each other, "I'll always come back for you," Aang said and their lips met. Aang tried to give her some of his hope, and all of his love in that kiss. Maybe she got the message because when they separated what felt like an eternity later she had a sincere smile on her face.

"I thought I was the one that gave the hope filled speeches?" she chuckled.

"Well I did learn from the best," laughed Aang, overjoyed that she had cheered up.

"Hey guys…oh…um…" Suki had walked in and noticed she had ruined a moment.

"You know what….I'll just…I'm just going to…ummmm…" Suki was obviously flustered. "I'll just wait," she mumbled. She began to back out of the courtyard.

Katara wiped her face on her sleeve and beckoned Suki back in. "No, no, it's alright," Katara said. "What's the matter?"

"Well, the guys, thought…well that it would be a good idea to just ummmm…you know go into town so we could see if we could find any info on Mr. "Supreme Evil" and we thought you'd ummmm….wanna come but if you guys are busy I'll just tell them." Suki tried to back out of the courtyard again but ran into Zuko, who had walked in from behind.

"So you guys coming?" he asked.

"Ummmm…." Aang glanced at Katara.

"Yeah we'll come," said Katara.

"You sure?" asked Suki timidly.

"Yeah it's a good idea," said Katara but she didn't look like she ment it.

"Alright," muttered Suki and left quickly leaving Zuko, Aang, and Katara the only ones in the courtyard.

"You sure about this," whispered Aang so Zuko wouldn't hear.

"Yeah I'm ok," Katara assured him.

"Alright," muttered Aang. "I guess it'll be a nice change, hunting the mad man for a change. Mix it up nicely don't you think?" Aang joked. Katara let out a weak chuckle.

"Well let's not keep them waiting," said Katara and she stood up. Aang sighed, sorry that the moment was over but also stood.

"She's right, come on," said Zuko glaring around the courtyard.

"Something wrong?" asked Katara.

"Bad memories," replied Zuko. He let Aang and Katara, hand in hand, pass by him.

As he looked back one last time on the courtyard he thought he could make out the faint image of a little girl named Azula laughing with her brother, scar less and happy. He turned his back on the memory and left to join the others to hunt for the evil that would supposedly ruin their lives forever.

­

**Outskirts**

_Why won't they stop whispering?_

He had a new cloak flung over his shoulder and he was facing the wind. His head felt like it was being squeezed slowly. How he whished he knew who was whispering in his head. He would make them stop. He would find them. If only he knew who was making them.

He couldn't take it anymore the voices were going to kill him. That was it, he was being punished. Somewhere, somehow, someone was punishing him for some crime he couldn't remember. No, no that couldn't be it. What crime could he have committed? Oh, he wished and he wanted them to stop whispering.

"Stop whispering," he muttered. His voice was ragged and dry from the trip and sounded like the rocks he walked on. The voices paid no attention to him though and just continued to whisper.

"Stop whispering," he demanded louder. The voices seemed to increase in volume slightly.

"Stop whispering!" he yelled. The whispering only got louder.

"Stop WHISPERING!!!" he screamed until he thought his throat would tear. They stopped.

He looked around in wonderment. Had that actually worked? Then they started again. Whispering and whispering right in his ear, all around him.

He sobbed into his hands his head still pounding. He couldn't figure out why they wouldn't leave him alone. _WHY? WHY ME? _he thought. Then something caught his eye. It was a flag blowing in the wind. It was a dark red flag, and seemed to have some insignia on it. It looked like black fire, but he wasn't sure.

He got up and stumbled in the direction of the flag. He would find someone to help him. He wouldn't stop until he found a way to make them stop. He would stop the voices. He would shut them up.

**­­­­­­­­­­­­­**

_Sorry about the shortness but I didn't think the next chapter and this one could go together too well. Looks like Mr. "Supreme Evil" is getting somewhere huh? Beware the evil!!!!! Give up the ideas and reviews. Thanks to you guys that really enjoyed it. _


	4. The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar **

**Chapter4: The Meeting**

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Everyone 8d ASC**

**Palace Entrance**

"Man two whole days out in that place and we haven't learned a thing!" grumbled Sokka.

They had spent all night the day before and all afternoon today in the marketplace and the bars of the Fire Nation. They had worked hard to try and find out any information on any mysterious all powerful people and had come up as empty as yesterday. It seemed that the Fire Nation had a lot of strange characters but none were the one they were looking for.

The only reason they had only called it a night because Sokka was sick of getting shoved around by Fire Nation hunks and puked on by animals. Not to mention no one wanted to waist a night there again.

"At least you didn't get burned by a bunch of fire crabs," shot back Suki. She and Katara had gone by the shore to explore the caves and boats out there and had been greeted by hundreds of the little pests. They had caused quite a bit of trouble, burning both girls and proving very difficult to escape. The water didn't seem to bother them and if Suki tried to hit them back they spat fire at her.

"Yeah but you didn't have to fight an entire Fire Nation gang," said Zuko darkly.

"I still swear the back of my head is singed," muttered Aang. Zuko and Aang had gone to the streets and ran foul of some Ozai supporters. They proved to be a real annoyance, calling in more back up than Aang would have thought possible. They also were incredibly lucky and many men lasted much longer than any ruff riding gang members would against the Avatar and the Fire Lord. On top of that they had found out nothing and gotten on the bad side of the locals. The damage had been pretty spectacular and the locals wanted their payback.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about?" yelled Toph, throwing her hands to the sky. "I thought it was a great time!" She had explored the bars alone and had somehow single handedly started seven bar fights. She would have stayed for all of them, too, if not for the gang dragging her back from all the commotion.

"Yeah it was great!" said Sokka sarcastically. "Who wouldn't love being pushed around, almost gored, and puked on by animals?" The day had given Sokka problems with the people and the animals. Most of the cowpigs had puked on him and one had eaten his beard disguise off. A few rhinos had tried to run him through with their horns, too. The people just completely ignored Sokka. In the streets he was pushed and shoved off to the side while in the bars, anyone he talked to would walk away or throw him out the door. It had not been a good day for him.

"That would be because you guys don't know how to blend in," said Mai.

"What? I blend well," said Sokka.

"Yeah you blended real well," she muttered. Mai had been most successful. She had lived in the Fire Nation for a long time and knew how to get answers out of people. She also knew how to avoid trouble which the Avatar and his gang did not.

"I told you not to wear that stupid beard," Suki chuckled.

"What? I tried to blend in?" defended Sokka.

"Yeah you blend in so well I could hardly tell it was you," said Katara sarcastically.

"Hardy har-har." grumbled Sokka.

"Speaking of your beard where is it?" asked Suki looking up and down Sokka's slime covered body.

Sokka's eyes filled with tears. "That cowpig ate it." Everyone laughed at that.

"Oh sure, go ahead and laugh. First I lose my boomerang, then my space sword, now my beard, see why do I always lose the things that I love?" he glanced longingly at the sky as though an answer was in the stars.

"Oh poor Sokka," giggled Katara.

"At least you have me," said Suki sweetly.

"True," smiled Sokka and giving her a big hug. Suki looked revolted at the animal goo on her but she had cheered Sokka up. Everyone laughed again and stepped inside to freshen up.

**­**

They met back in the throne room for the last time for the night.

"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm going to bed," yawned Zuko. "Are we doing the same thing tomorrow?"

"I don't know," said Aang. "I don't want to waste all of our time looking for somebody we may not be able to find. Not to mention we cause a lot of commotion. I would like to see this guy coming though."

Katara shook her head, "We can't keep doing this, we'll cause too much chaos in town."

"She does have a point," said Suki. "If we keep doing this were going to destroy the Fire Nation before we get a chance to rebuild it! Not to mention Aang and Zuko are kind of hard to miss."

Before Sokka could say anything on the subject a guard rushed into the room.

"My Lord," he said bowing low to Zuko. "We have a problem."

"What is it," Zuko frowned.

"There is a stranger in the streets, he's destroying everything. We don't know where he comes from, he wears no defining cloths and we can't seem to stop him. 80 of my best men are down and we have no idea how he is stopping us!" the guard exclaimed. He was pale faced and obviously frightened out of his mind.

Zuko and Aang looked at each other.

"Your friend?" Zuko asked.

"Probably," nodded Aang.

Zuko turned to the guard. "Clear everyone out of the streets, your men and civilians. We will handle this."

"Yes My Lord," said the guard and after bowing low he rushed out.

"Time to go," said Aang.

"Wait we're coming let us get our gear," yelled Sokka as he and Suki ran down the hallway.

Zuko meanwhile turned to Mai. "I don't want you to come," he muttered.

"I figured you'd say that," said Mai.

"Please don't-,"

"Save it Zuko. I'm ready," and with that she had a dagger in her hand. "I'm going," she said defiantly.

"Alright," said Zuko quietly.

They all ran to wake Appa out of his sleep.

"C'mon buddy we gotta go," yelled Aang. Appa roared and stood up.

"You ready?" Toph asked Aang.

"Yeah," muttered Aang. He looked at Katara. She had none of her past sadness or despair. Her eye where hard set and ready.

"Let's do this."

**­­­­­­­­­­­­­**

**---------------------------------------------------A few minutes earlier------------------------------------------------------------**

**Market Place**

He would make the voices stop. He couldn't take it any more. His head was sure to explode if he didn't find relief soon.

But no one would help him. He asked everyone there to help him. He needed someone to help him.

"Please," he begged. "Help me." But no one answered his call. Even the children just stared at him, looks of disgust etched into their faces. He did not ever notice the figure behind him.

This figure was a thief by the name of Xu. He had seen this stranger stumble into town and knew he would be easy pickings indeed. The way he stumbled and muttered about voices he was surely crazy. _Ha almost too easy _Xu thought. He saw the look of complete desperation on the tattered strangers face and decided to make his move.

"Hey," Xu whispered right behind the stranger. "I can help you."

The stranger half turned half fell toward Xu.

"You can?" he whispered. _Yep for sure crazy _thought Xu.

"Oh sure of course I can help you," said Xu in a silky smooth voice. "Come here," he said as he prodded the stranger forward. As this stranger stumbled forward Xu looked him over. He was tall, taller than him by at least five inches so that made him about…six feet seven? He was muscular, too. Not to over muscular but you could see it. _Maybe he used to be army_ thought Xu, _Even better_. The stranger had jet black hair, too. It was the blackest thing Xu had ever seen and had been what made him stick out as much as his crazy muttering.

They reached a corner of the plaza that was unoccupied and Xu pulled a knife out.

"Alright crazy you got any money?" Xu demanded.

"What?" said the confused stranger. He looked like he was about to fall over.

"You heard me give me what you got," snarled Xu. This guy was obviously so crazy he didn't know what Xu was talking about.

"No, just…just leave me alone," the stranger muttered trying to walk away. Xu couldn't believe this guy's gull.

"What did you say to me? Hey get back here," he yelled grabbing the stranger and wheeling him around. What he saw caused him to jump back in fear.

He had gotten a good look at his eyes. They were black. So black that they made the night sky seem bright. It looked like an abyss in his eyes. He also was standing up strait and confidently, reaching his full height. None of the slouching like before. And when he spoke it wasn't a whisper or a mutter.

"Leave…me…alone," he said in a low, clean, cool cut voice.

As he turned to walk away again Xu snapped out of his shock and tried again.

"You listen here-," Xu began, but he got no farther. The stranger made a strange hand gesture and at first Xu thought he was motioning something at him. Something grabbed his foot tight and yanked.

Xu looked down quickly and saw something he couldn't believe. A _shadow _had a hold on his foot. Xu blinked one time before it pulled back with inhuman strength toward a wall. Xu screamed the whole way back until the shadows overtook him and pulled him in. When they cleared Xu was no longer there.

Someone screamed at the sight of this from behind the stranger. He grabbed his head in anguish and dropped to a knee.

"Stop…please," he muttered. He motioned a hand in her direction and a shadow lashed out. It smashed a food cart that was near the lady.

"MY CABBAGES!!" the merchant screamed. That alerted everyone to the stranger with the shadows lashing out around him.

More people screamed and everyone tried to run for cover. Their screams made his head hurt even more on top of the whispering, which had grown a lot louder. He couldn't take it any more.

"STOP PLEASE!!" he screamed. Shadow tendrils flew in all directions, smashing crates, windows, and stone walls. It made contact with the heater in one store and it exploded with a tremendous force.

"Hey you stop now and surrender in the name of the Fire Lord," yelled two guards from behind him. He turned to face them. He couldn't make them out because his eyes had gone out of focus again but he could make out the spears they were holding.

"Keep away from me," he cried flinging her arms up. Two shadow pillars hit them under the chin as they ran at him. The force of the hit catapulted them up and the crashed down on their heads and moved no more.

More guards came in, "Hey," "Hey," "Stop right there," they all yelled at them. There yells made his head hurt worse and still the whispering grew louder.

"Shut up," he muttered.

The guards began throwing fire at him. They came at him with swords and spears. He didn't like it.

"Leave me alone!" he yelled. He couldn't see them well but he knew they were coming. He continued flailing, smashing guards and buildings to pieces.

Shadows danced and swayed with the stranger as the battle continued. And not once did they stop whispering.

**­**

--------------------------------------------------------------**Now**-------------------------------------------------------------------

"There," pointed Sokka. The black smoke rising from the plaza was impossible to miss.

"Everyone ready?" asked Aang. Everyone's faces were set and they all nodded. Appa began his dive down.

"What's the plan Twinkle Toes?" asked Toph.

"Take him out as fast as possible," answered Aang.

"Good plan," Toph smirked.

Appa landed and everyone descended. They all jumped off the minute he reached ground.

"Go and stay safe buddy," Aang whispered to Appa. He roared and took off to a safe distance.

"C'mon," yelled Zuko and he lead them to face the new evil.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**­**

_The people are gone _he thought. _Good_. He wobbled around on jelly legs.

"_They're coming," _whispered someone. The whisper was like a hiss and echoed around in his ear.

He stumbled around to try and see who was talking to him. He saw no speaker and was very confused.

_Who? _

"You there," came a commanding voice. "Turn around and surrender!"

The stranger turned around to face Zuko when he spoke and Aang looked him up and down. He had no shirt; no shoes and his pants were ripped and soiled. He was moving wobbly and his eyes seemed out of focus.

Katara was slightly reminded of Jet except this guy had extremely black hair. And he was taller and better built then Jet, too. But his eyes where out of focus and he looked completely deranged. It scared her to look at him.

He couldn't figure out these strange figures. They all looked out of focus and were standing too close together. He thought there were seven, but he wasn't sure. One of them snapped something that he couldn't hear and suddenly two of them were upon him.

**­______________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"C'mon guys, we'll stop him fast," yelled a confident Sokka. He and Suki immediately charged.

"Sokka, Suki, wait!" yelled Aang. They didn't pay attention to him and were on him in seconds. Aang noted for someone wobbly and out of it he moved really well.

Sokka struck first, trying to gut him with his sword. The stranger stumbled out of the way and pushed the sword deep into the ground. With that he kept his feet under him and made a chopping motion to this chest.

Aang must have missed what hit him because suddenly Sokka went flying back and smashed into a discarded cart. He glanced at the others who like him looked confused.

"What," asked Zuko "was that?"

Suki continued her assault, launching a volley of punches and kicks at the stranger. He dodged all of them but not by much. Suki swore that the last punch with her fan cut some of his hair off.

Aang noticed a change come over the stranger after Suki backed down for a second to catch her breath. He lost his out of focus look and suddenly looked determined. He no longer stumbled around but moved fluidly out of the way of Suki's punches and kicks.

Katara saw that change as well and knew what she was looking at. It was what she had feared for her family for a long time. It had stood inside her home a long time ago. It had killed her mother. Katara knew she was looking at a killer.

Suki's mark was getting better and the stranger was forced to absorb some of the blows on his arms and legs. He grunted in pain and made a weird motion, like he was grabbing something.

With that black shadows came out from behind Suki and grabbed her, wrapping her and holding her down. Aang gasped and did a double take, just to make sure he wasn't crazy. _Shadows had grabbed Suki? _Everyone had the same dumbfounded expression on their face except for Toph who just seemed confused.

"What's going on, what happened to Suki?" she demanded. Aang couldn't think of how to explain it to her.

Aang's stomach dropped at what he saw next. A smirk had crossed this stranger's face. It was a smirk he knew well. He had seen it on Azula and Ozai's face many times. It could mean nothing good.

The stranger made a one handed pulling motion and shadows copied his motions. The shadows reached out with tentacles and grabbed Suki by her feet. They began reeling her in and a look of terror crossed her face. Everyone was too scared to move. Before anyone could do anything Suki disappeared under the shadows that consumed her. Everyone stared at the spot in complete horror. Even Toph knew something had happened.

"Oh no," she whispered

"Suki!" yelled Sokka who had just gotten up. He ran to the spot she had disappeared and began looking franticly around. But the spot where she had disappeared held her no more.

"Where is she!?" he demanded turning on the stranger. The stranger didn't answer. "Tell me!" Sokka demanded and charged him. The stranger just smirked and launched Sokka over his head and head first into another cart. Sokka didn't move.

"Well come on!" yelled Toph waking everyone out of their shock. Toph began firing small rock at the stranger quickly. He ducked and rolled out of the way quickly and made some short punches followed by a long punch. The shadows copied, lashing out and hitting Toph in one shoulder and then the other. She was spun around by the force and the final shadow hit her in the back of the head. She slumped over and didn't move.

Katara stared in amazement at the unconscious Toph. She had never seen the girl get hit like that before. She had acted like she had never seen the attack coming. Zuko, Mai, Aang, and Katara coordinated their attacks a little better. Mai, using her speed tried to run around and incapacitate the stranger with her daggers. Zuko and Aang attacked from the front, moving quickly and striking just as quick. Katara tried to use her long waterbending techniques to get behind the stranger. It was a good strategy but they were down three people and this stranger was a master.

Mai was good but no match for a bender. She went down first. She had done well dodging for a while before the stranger caught one of her darts with a shadow and flung it back at her with incredible speed. She dodged the death part but it pinned her by her hair to the wall. It was too easy for the stranger to knock her out from there. Zuko let out a cry and redoubled his attacks.

They continued to dance back and forth, the stranger holding them off but not winning and the gang attack feverishly but not breaking through. He eventually caught Katara's water as she tried to come from behind again and shot it back at her, again with incredible speed. The balls of water hit her full in the face and at that speed felt like metal. She fell to the ground fighting stunned and fighting unconsciousness.

That left Aang and Zuko alone fighting the stranger. He was trying push the attack and his shadows were getting closer and closer. Finally, though they broke through the defense. Zuko shot out a flame that made the shadows cringe back and Aang came up quickly behind him with an air blast that hit the stranger dead on, knocking him to the ground.

He didn't stay down though. He quickly backward somersaulted and stood back up. The look on his face was one of annoyance and anger. With a sudden fury he screamed at the sky. In response the shadows lashed out like giant tendrils, coming from everywhere and smashing whatever they hit.

Katara, who had just regained her footing, was thrown through a shop window, lost from sight. Zuko had no chance and was immediately pinned to a shop wall and then had his head smashed between two shadows, stunning him. Aang blocked everything in the front, but the tendrils hit from behind too and catapulted him high onto a rooftop.

Aang looked up slowly down on the plaza. Shadows were everywhere, making it look like someone's worse nightmare. The stranger was laughing and Aang couldn't think right. What could he do?

He was answered by the stranger suddenly clutching his head. He stopped laughing and just stood there holding his head, completely out of it. Aang saw his chance and threw his staff at him as hard as he could from his knees. The staff twirled, curved toward the stranger, and landed with a satisfying _smack_!

The stranger stood there, teetered for a second, and then hit the ground out cold. Aang stood gingerly and surveyed the damage. Toph was still out cold but Mai and Sokka were slowly stirring. Katara stumble out of the shop she had flown into, holding her head. Zuko was also standing on wobbly legs clutching his head.

The plaza was in complete disarray. All carts and crates had been smashed and all stores were crumpling and had walls filled with holes. In one a fire spat as it consumed what it could.

But worst of all was Suki…oh Spirits Suki. Aang looked back at the spot where she had disappeared but could see no clue to were she was. She was gone. She had been eaten by _shadows? _It was crazy but this guy controlled _shadows! _He was just as Roku said. He was strange, defiantly cool and cunning and obviously confused. Aang jumped off the building to check on his friends. They would need all their strength to deal with a shadowbender.

_Ha Ha I told you it would get better. So they finally met the shadowbender. What is with the voices in that guys head? And what do you think happened to Suki. R&R people! Oh and to clear any confusion, the shadowbender does not have a name yet. I have one for him but you don't get to know it yet. So if you see multiple sentences with a HE and you can't figure out who it is. It's probably the shadowbender. _


	5. Cells

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. **

**I do own the shadowbender though. He is mine. **

**Chapter5: Cells **

**Aang, Katara, Toph, Zuko, Mai 8d ASC**

**Throne Room**

"Yes that's fine, thank you," grimaced Zuko. He gingerly held the ice to his head where the doctor had put it.

They had called in an entire team of doctors once they had gotten back to the palace. After making sure no serious injuries had been sustained, they had given everybody ice and bandages.

_Lucky there were no serious injuries _thought Zuko. He shuddered at the thought of any one of them going down so hard they couldn't get back up.

Toph and Zuko had got it worst physically. They both had major concussion from being hit in the head too hard. Toph's had been worse. She had trouble standing up strait and had to be forced to lie down or risk further injury.

Aang was pretty banged up, too. He was covered in gaze bandages and there were a bunch over his ribcage. He seemed to have cracked a few when he had flown through the air like a bouncy ball.

Sokka was altogether unhurt physically. He had a hard head and had dodged the concussion. His heart, however, had been broken to pieces.

When he had been looked over the doctor had simply said, "He's got a broken spirit," and brought him something to drink.

Katara and Mai also weren't seriously hurt, despite being tossed around and smashed into. They were only worried about the others, especially their respective boyfriends.

Aang observed the group. As far as he could remember, he had never seen everyone in the gang so beat down before. Certain people had been beaten down, like himself for instance, but the others had always picked him back up. Not this time though. This time everyone seemed to be suffering one way or another.

"You alright?" he asked Toph, who seemed the most down.

"I'm fine," mumbled the blind earthbender. "My egos bruised is all."

"What happened to you out there?" asked Katara. "I've never seen you…no offense, but I've never seen you so unprepared for an attack."

Toph paused before answering. "I was going to ask you the same thing. What happened out there? One second were kicking butt and attacking and the next he's making funny motions and I'm out cold. He wasn't bending so what happened?" Everyone was in shocked silence at those words.

"You mean you don't know what he was doing?" asked Aang.

"No, Twinkle Toes and I would kind of like to know." said Toph, annoyed.

Aang paused trying to think of how to explain it. "Toph, the guy was controlling shadows," he said. There was no other way to say it.

"Shadows?" said Toph, incredulously.

"Yeah," said Aang softly.

"I guess that makes sense…" muttered Toph to herself.

"Why? What did you "see"?" asked Zuko.

"Well it was really strange. To me it looked like he wasn't doing anything. I mean he was making the motions but I didn't see anything coming. Guess I was wrong, huh," she let out a weak chuckle.

"What about Suki?" chocked out Sokka. Everyone turned to him. He hadn't bothered to look up from his drink and tears still were running down his face.

"That was the strangest thing," said Toph in a quiet voice. "I saw her…felt her attacking. Then she just kind of stopped and it felt like she just went rigid. Then she seemed to move on the ground by herself. When I thought shed hit the wall she just…vanished."

Sokka stiffened as the tears began falling down and earnest now. Katara moved over to her brother and put an arm around him.

"Shhhhh…," she whispered softly, "It'll be alright."

"How will it be alright?" sobbed Sokka. "Suki's dead…gone…,"

"Woah there Blubber Brain," said Toph snapping up from her bed. She winced and held her head but remained up right. "I never said she was dead!"

Sokka looked up at her. "But you said-,"

"I _said_," cut in Toph, "that she vanished. If she would have died I would have still been able to see her body. But that wasn't there either so she might still be alive." Sokka closed his eyes and bowed his head back down.

"Not to be rude," said Zuko tentatively, "finding your girlfriend is important." He glanced at Mai thinking of what he would feel like if she had been the one taken away by shadows. Mai raised an eyebrow at him. "But we do have a problem. We need to hold a certain shadow controller before he wakes up."

Aang nodded. "Zuko's right, the sooner we find a way to hold him the sooner we can question him."

"Well don't ask me," said Toph lying back down. "I'm all out of bright ideas." They sat for a while to ponder the problem.

"Well its obvious isn't it?" Mai finally said. Everyone looked at her again. She rolled her eyes at again at everyone's surprise at her talking.

"If this guy is some kind of….well, shadowbender," the room seemed to ring with the word. _Shadowbender. _"Then you need to put him in a place full of light. No shadows or darkness of any kind."

Zuko thought for a minute. "It could work," he said nodding. "But how would we fill a cell with enough light?"

Mai rolled her eyes again. "Make it smaller," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Right," said Zuko sheepishly.

"Just fill it with a bunch of candles," said Katara.

Zuko nodded. "How would we talk to him?"

"Make a window," said Mai.

"Ill go inform the engineers to start building the prison," Zuko said and left to do so.

When he returned he looked rather pleased.

"The engineers say it should be rather easy. An hour maybe two," he said.

"How is he?" asked Aang referring to the shadowbender.

"Still out cold," replied Zuko.

"Good," said Sokka. His eyes had a distant look and he had stopped crying.

_I will find you Suki _he thought.

_I will rescue you. _

---------------------------------------------**One Hour Later--------------------------------------------------------**

"This is defiantly the strangest thing I have ever seen," said Aang.

The box that was called a prison was just big enough for two people. It was made of metal and was filled with bright candles that bounded of the glass around them, giving it a very eerie brightness.

"But it works," pointed out Katara. That was true. There was not a single speck of darkness in the box.

"So are we going to do this?" asked Zuko. Everyone nodded.

"Here's the only thing. Let me and Aang question him first, and then he's all yours Sokka." Sokka didn't look happy but nodded.

Katara didn't like it very much though. He preferred the shadowbender asleep. If he was awake then she might see that face again. That part of the shadowbender that had showed up when they had fought. The killer part of him.

"Everyone ready," asked Zuko. They all nodded except for Katara.

"Katara?" asked Aang looking worried. She looked at him and he saw she was scared.

But she nodded anyways and said, "Go ahead."

Zuko turned to the big guard by the prison. "Wake him up," he ordered.

The guard began pounding on the metal walls. The prison shook and the guard yelled in his gruff voice, "Wake up! Wake up!!"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Oh my head_. He stirred as the banging increased in volume.

He opened his eyes and shut them just as quickly because of the blinding bright light. He was sore, especially behind his head. He had a dull memory of a stick hitting him in the back of the head.

He just sat there limp letting the chains hold him up and listening to the pounding, wishing it would stop.

Wait, he could hear the pounding? He looked up and cocked his head to the side. The whispering had stopped. He let out a weak chuckle. It had finally stopped. He couldn't hear them anymore.

"Wait, he's awake," a voice said. He opened his eyes, squinting against the light, and realized he was in a small, metal room of light. The pounding ceased and he groaned. The whispering hadn't stopped. It just was extra quiet, far away.

_Damn _he thought. It was quite enough that he could block them out but the noise was still unnerving.

"I know your awake so don't bother pretending otherwise," came the same voice. It was slightly muffled by the metal but still recognizable. This was the man who had shouted at him in the plaza.

He looked around until he saw the window with the mans face in it. It was still out of focus and it took him a minute to really focus on the face. He didn't look very old at all, maybe seventeen. He felt a little older than that.

_How old am I? _He surprised himself with that thought. He had no idea how old he was.

"I know you're awake," repeated the questioner in a low voice. He looked back at the boy. His hair was a dark brow and pulled back into a ponytail, held up by some metal crown. He also had a scar over his left eye that went back to his shriveled ear.

"Who are you? What is your name?" demanded the questioner.

"My name?" he mumbled.

_My name? What's my name? I can't remember my name! I can't remember my name! I can't-._

_Wait! Yes I do. I do have a name. My name is… My name is… My name is…_

"My name is Tyren," he said.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Tyren," Zuko hissed. It felt good to know that this unspeakable evil had a name. Something to actually call him, instead of fearing what they didn't know about.

Zuko looked over his appearance for the first time. His brown eyes and jet black hair reminded him of his father. Except this stranger's eyes looked more like mud than a golden fire. He was now outfitted in prison uniform but they didn't fit well on his muscled frame.

Katara noticed something strange about this stranger. When he had looked up and said his name she saw his eyes were a brown. But she could have sworn that when they met in the plaza they had been as black as could be. It unsettled her to see this and made her think that there was a demon deep inside him, laughing at them all for not killing it while they could and was teasing them by disappearing.

"Where are you from?" demanded Zuko, continuing the questioning.

"From?" mumbled Tyren. He seemed too confused to really grasp what the questions were. Instead he focused on Zuko. "Who are you?" he asked Zuko in his low voice.

Zuko frowned in annoyance, "I am Fire Lord Zuko of the Fire Nation, and I will be the one asking the questions!"

Aang noticed that no recognition crossed this Tyren's face as Zuko told him this.

"Now I ask you again, where are you from?" Zuko asked again angrily.

Tyren closed his eyes, not answering right away. To Aang, he seemed to be having some miniature battle in his head. After a couple of minutes of silence Tyren opened his eyes. Confusion and surprise were etched onto his face.

"I-I-I don't know," he stammered.

Zuko raised an eyebrow. Everyone had the same shocked look of disbelief on their faces.

"He must be lying," said Sokka. Toph put her hands on the metal box, concentrating hard.

"What do you mean you don't know?" demanded Zuko. "Where are you from?"

Again Tyren thought long and hard before answering, as though a thought would come and change what he had said. When he answered however it was the same story.

"I don't know where I'm from. I can't remember," he said in a shaky voice. He frowned like he was put out that his mind wasn't working for him. "It's a blank."

Zuko glanced at Toph.

"He's telling the truth," said Toph. Everyone was surprised at her words and looked back at their captive with renewed interest. "However tricky or confused he is, he's telling the truth. He doesn't know where he's from."

Zuko turned back to Tyren. "How did you come here then?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"I-I woke up in a cave," mumbled Tyren. He had closed his eyes again, as though keeping them open was too much work. "I woke up in some big black cave and I couldn't see. I had a horrible headache and couldn't think strait. I managed to find some light and get out though. I-I-I heard things; voices, all around me. They bounced off the rocks and made my headache even worse. So-I had to get away-I had to. I walked here," he finished his story with his eyes tightly shut, as though the memories were bringing him pain.

Zuko looked at the other incredulously, but Toph was nodding, confirming their prisoner's story.

"By yourself?" Zuko pried.

"Yea-No, no," Tyren changed his mind in mid sentence. Some campers were passing through and insisted I stay with them. They were passing through and got me through the night."

"What happened to them," asked Zuko, fearing the worse.

"I don't know," mumbled Tyren. "I must have stumbled off cause the last thing I remember is coming to my senses when the sun was just coming up."

Zuko did another check on his story. Toph nodded, signaling Tyren's truth.

"So it took you two days to get here?" asked Zuko.

Tyren looked confused by the question. "Yeah I guess so."

Aang and Zuko looked at each other, thinking the same thought. That put Avatar Roku's warning at about the same time that Tyren woke up from wherever he had been.

"Why did you attack us?" asked Zuko. This was the question everyone wanted to know and the tension seemed to mount around them.

"Attack you?" asked a puzzled Tyren. "I never attacked anyone."

"Don't lie," hissed Zuko, ignoring Toph's nodding. "You destroyed an entire plaza, wounded around eighty of my guards, wounded all of us, and…" Zuko stopped after catching the look on Sokka's face.

Again Tyren shook his head. "I never attached anyone. You attacked me! I asked people for help, because I thought my head was going to explode and no one would help me. Then…then…" he stopped as though the memory of what had happened was too much.

"I think we can put it together from here," said Zuko in a silky smooth voice that sounded nothing like the one he usually used. "You just snapped and destroyed things."

"No," muttered Tyren.

"Tell me if I'm close," hissed Zuko. "You got here, covered in dirt and your head throbbing. You needed some help but no one would help you."

Tyren glared up at Zuko.

"So you start getting desperate," continued Zuko. "And someone behaves a little too unkindly; just a little unpleasant to the ratty beggar on his arm."

"No," Tyren repeated.

"You showed all those stuck up people not to be so cruel. You rampage around and destroy everything; scatter everyone."

"No," stated Tyren firmly.

"Then when the guards show up, you panic. You decide to take care of them."

"No!" protested Tyren.

"Zuko," said Aang warningly. But Zuko was not listening to anybody.

"THEN," he thundered, "when we show up you've had enough. You don't want to mess around anymore. So you go ahead and kill…"

"NO!!!" screamed Tyren. He began struggling against the chains, as though he wanted to tear Zuko apart.

"Zuko! Enough!" said Mai sharply. Zuko was breathing heavily and Tyren was still glaring vehemently at him.

"Well?" Zuko demanded rounding on Toph.

Toph shrugged, "I don't really know it's kind of hard to tell. I think he remembers a lot of the stuff you just said, but he wasn't doing them to be vicious. He's just a confused guy with extreme amnesia in my opinion."

Zuko sighed, defeated. "Alright, I'm done with him."

"I'm not," said Sokka. He looked up with a grim determination and took Zuko's place at the window. Tyren had closed his eyes again and hadn't noticed him come up.

"You," he said getting Tyren's attention. "Where is Suki?"

Tyren locked eyes with Sokka and betrayed no recognition at the name.

"Who?" he asked, confused.

"Suki, where is she? That girl that you made disappear tonight, what did you do with her?" demanded Sokka.

"Who are you talking about," asked Tyren looking utterly bemused. "What girl?"

"Don't play with me, you remember. She attacked you with me. I was the one with the swords and she was right there with me. What did you do with her?" Sokka's eyes were getting wilder the longer this went on.

Tyren simply frowned though. "Yes, I remember you two. But I didn't do anything to the girl. I don't remember doing anything to her," he didn't sound sure of himself though.

Sokka turned to Toph. "He's lying isn't he?"

Toph didn't immediately answer.

"Isn't he?" demanded Sokka.

"No," said Toph in a sad voice. "He doesn't remember doing anything to Suki." Toph's face was somber. "I'm sorry Sokka."

More tears began pouring down Sokka's face.

"I'm so sorry Sokka," said Katara in barely a whisper.

"No," muttered Sokka, "No that can't be it!" Before anyone could stop him he flung the metal door open and was upon Tyren.

"Sokka no!!" shouted Aang but it was too late.

"Where is Suki?" Sokka demanded again nose to nose with Tyren. Aang was reminded of a scene about a month ago very much like this one, except it had been with Azula instead of the more dangerous Tyren.

"I don't know," answered Tyren in a small voice.

"NO!" yelled Sokka and he brought his fist crashing down onto Tyren's jaw.

"Sokka don't," yelled Katara, crying silently as she tried to pull the door open.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Sokka screamed again. Tyren didn't even bother answering and just looked away. Sokka's fist came down again to catch Tyren on the jaw, but was interrupted by a quick movement.

Katara froze where she was at the door and so did everyone else behind her as they realized that Sokka's own shadow had stopped his hand from crashing down. Sokka stared in wonderment for a second before the shadow version flung him by his arm into the metal and glass frame behind him. With a quick elbow the shadow Sokka knocked out his real counterpart.

With still fluid motion the shadow sliced Tyren off the wall he was on. Tyren stood up straight, chains sliding off his body. He looked out through the tiny window and Katara saw that once again that his eyes had turned into inky pools of black.

Everyone backed away and took a defensive stance, ready to take on the shadowbender once again. The shadow Sokka turned into tendrils that crushed the door were it was and ripped it off its hinges. With a nonchalant gesture the shadows threw the door behind him and pinned Sokka to the wall under the door.

"He won't be able to breath," yelled Katara. They all didn't know how they would rescue Sokka and keep Tyren from leaving.

Tyren only took one step however before he stopped and clutched his head.

"No," he muttered, "Not this." He stood back up and everyone saw his eyes hand returned to their original brown. Tyren motioned to the shadow and it peeled the door off Sokka like a banana. Sokka gasped for breath and sat their panting and glaring at Tyren.

Tyren half turned toward Sokka, not really looking at him and said, "I'm sorry about your friend, I really am. But I don't know what happened to her. I can't remember."

Sokka just sat there, new tears running down his face. Tyren turned his back on them and faced the guards outside his prison.

"I won't fight you. If I must pay for my crimes I will. But not in this prison; I'll go crazy in there. I'll go somewhere normal. I won't try to escape you have my word," he said.

Zuko looked at the others and shrugged.

"Alright," he motioned to two of the guards. "Take him to the palace prisons."

"Yes My Lord," and they hurried forward to perform their duty.

As he was being led away Tyren stopped and faced Zuko. "I have one more question for you."

"Come on," growled the guards and they attempted to push him away.

Before he was gone thought Tyren yelled out, "What the hell is a Fire Lord and a Fire Nation?" Everyone looked, surprised, at each other.

_This is a strange character _thought Aang.

_How bout that? Thank God I can finally use a name instead of freaking HE whenever I talk about Tyren. So what do you guys think? What do you think happened to Suki? What do you think Tyren's lost origins are? Leave your comments and idea's. I need them. _

**I own Tyren. I wanna make that clear. He is mine. My character. Mine. **


	6. Shadow World

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**I do own Tyren. His is mine. **

**Chapter6: Shadow World**

**Tyren 8d ASC**

**Prison **

"Come on," growled the bigger of the guards, pushing Tyren forward.

They had walked down the same beaten path for what seemed like forever and had finally reached the base of the building. Tyren had stopped to admire his new home. It was just a big pillar, dimly lit, with barred windows and pathways covered with guards.

As the two guards left him with one heavily muscled guard, Tyren's head continued to spin. It really hadn't stopped since those people had spoken to him.

The one with the burnt face that was the one he kept seeing. That _Fire Lord _had said things that _he _had done; terrible things that Tyren really didn't remember doing. Thinking back he had been way too messed up to remember everything, but the scariest part was that part of his brain telling him that that Fire Lord had told the truth.

Because he did remember some of what that guy had said. He did remember flashes of anger and fear. He saw pictures of people running and screaming, but they were too fuzzy to completely remember. Tyren shook his head, trying to shake off the weird feeling he was having.

The guard, having no idea of the struggle in Tyren's mind, continued to push Tyren through the prison. The low light of the torches caused the shadows to dance and shift on the walls and Tyren eyeballed them warily. The last thing he needed was to go psycho again and tear down an entire prison.

As they passed the other cells Tyren ears caught some of what the prisoners were doing. Most just sat in their cell, lost in self pity, but there were some that seemed to have lost their minds. They got as close to the bars as possible when Tyren passed and hissed and giggled madly at him. Some just screamed.

All this started blending in with the voices still in Tyren's head. They had picked up when he had gotten out of that strange prison and had been impossible to block out; as though they were insulted that he managed to do so in the first place. His head was really starting to hurt again.

"Move faster," growled the guard. His hand shot out and pushed Tyren hard. Tyren dropped to a knee in surprise. The guard laughed and hit him with a hard kick.

"Come on you useless piece of filth, get up," he hissed aiming another kick at Tyren.

Tyren glanced up from the assault and saw with horror that the shadows were creeping forward. They looked like they were going strait for the guard, who in his joy at torturing Tyren, didn't see them.

"No, no, no," he whispered hurriedly. "Back off." They stopped were they were and slowly crept back to their original positions. Sighing with relief Tyren stood and continued his walk.

They arrived at his cell around the halfway up the building.

"There you go sunshine," laughed the guard and he threw him in. The guard laughed at Tyren again and slammed the door, locking it on his way out.

Tyren looked around dingy little cell. It was cramped but he liked it better than being chained in a small box. The window was small too, but Tyren could dimly make out the big building that he had been before. He could also make out patrolling guards and what looked like barracks close to his window.

_Not that it matters _he thought glumly. He had given his word he wouldn't try to break out and he ment to keep it. Even if the people he had promised had tried to torture him.

Who were those guys anyway? There was that one kid with the burnt face. He had called himself _Fire Lord _Zuko, but what was a Fire Lord? There was also that kid with the arrows on his head. He had seemed a little wise for his years. Tyren could see in his eyes he had been through a lot and he didn't look like he shaved yet. How old was he…maybe 12?

_How old am I? _thought Tyren for the second time that night. It was strange but Tyren couldn't remember anything about himself, besides his name. Everything before that cave was big, black, and blank. Not even a fuzzy memory to help him, no half defining thing.

Then there had been those two girls he'd seen. The one in the blue seemed frightened of him. More than the others were anyway. She looked at him with big blue eyes and Tyren had seen the fear in there, but he couldn't figure out why she feared him so much. Had he done that much wrong?

The other one was blind. He had seen her eyes as he had walked past and it hadn't surprised him as much as he would have thought it should have in that situation. He also had that strange feeling when he had looked at her. Like she was following him all the way down the path, watching to make sure he didn't try something. Like she could really see him, for what he was instead of this monster everyone seemed to assume he was.

To finish their little group was that sword guy. The others had called him Sokka or something. Tyren sighed and held his head as the face of the guy flashed through his mind. It had been contorted with rage and sadness, as he had asked him the same question again and again.

But he didn't do anything to that girl! He didn't even know he had done anything to her, how was he to know where she was. He couldn't have done anything to her could he? He may not know anything about his past but he knew he was no killer.

_Why won't these voices shut up? _he thought angrily spinning around the cell trying to get a look at who it was.

The shadows were the only thing there though, dancing along his prison wall. Wait a minute…there was no light near enough to make the shadows dance!

Tyren blinked in surprise as the sudden realization came over him.

"Are you whispering to me?" he asked the shadow. He felt foolish believing this. How would shadows whisper to him?

But they did answer. It sounded like a hissing. Like the hissing of a million snakes, echoing of the walls and repeating again and again. "Yesssss..." they hissed softly.

Tyren blinked in surprise again. He couldn't believe that had worked. He took a deep breath and sat down in the middle of the cell. The shadows had stopped whispering and dancing, as though waiting for Tyren's reaction and waiting for what he'd do next.

Tyren just closed his eyes, taking deep breaths and thinking things over. So the shadows whispered to him. The shadows held the answers to his problems. The shadows knew him.

He just thought for a minute, unsure of what to do next before it hit him. He remembered the sword guy Sokka. He remembered the tortured look on his face. He remembered the question that he had asked him again and again, the question that reverberated in his head now.

_Where's Suki? Where's Suki? Where's Suki? Where's Suki? _

"Where's Suki?" he muttered under his breath.

He couldn't see it, but the shadows immediately shifted towards him. The whispered incoherently, filling his head with the sound of a million voices. They reached for him, covering his legs and arms. They continued around covering his entire torso. They started covering his head, surrounding him and pulling him in.

They began closing in on the front of his face and his eyes snapped open. But it was too late to do anything. They overtook his entire face and it looked like there was an entirely black figure there for a few seconds. Then the shadows dissipated and the cell was completely empty.

**Tyren**

**Unknown**

The shadows dissipated from Tyren and he realized he could see again. But wherever he had been before he was not there now. This place had a dark and mysterious aura to it. It didn't seem to have any end but this world gave the feeling of being trapped in a bubble. The sky seemed to be purple and black, shifting around. Wait the sky was purple and black? Tyren looked again and realized that he wasn't sure if that was the sky. There didn't seem to be any ground.

He desperately wished that there was some ground. As if something, somewhere had read his mind, shadows sprang up from nowhere and began spreading out like paint. It went under his feet and sped out around, dipping up and down and going out just like the ground he had walked on before.

Tyren felt like he was looking at a miniature black covered earth. Except for the sky; nothing had changed there. Tyren glanced up at it again and got the same feeling of suspense, or maybe it was eeriness. It was all too confusing.

_Why won't they stop! _Tyren thought furiously. The voices hadn't stopped whispering at all in this new world. If anything they had increased in volume.

But they had listened to him didn't they? He remembered he had asked were that girl, Suki was. And they had brought him here; wherever here was.

"Where am I?" he whispered timidly. He still really didn't know what he was doing. The shadows danced and seemed to rise out of the ground like a giant snake. Tyren stiffened but didn't move as they wrapped themselves around him until they were on his shoulders and seemed to look at him.

"Home…" they hissed in their echoing voice.

"What?" he asked confused. He looked back at the shadow (or at least where he thought the head was) warily.

"Home…" they repeated. Tyren shook his head in despair. He was never going to get a straight answer from them. He began scanning the barren shadowy wasteland looking for some kind of clue. He was greeted by the sight of a human looking figure standing on a hill not too far away.

_Maybe it's that Suki _he thought, hoping that he'd be able to end this field trip early. Tyren began walking towards the figure, shadows still wrapped around him like a larger than life snake.

As he got closer to the figure he noticed it was moving incredibly strange. It was stumbling around and, from Tyren's view, looked slightly deranged. He also saw it was a man instead of a woman. Frowning in disappointment he continued toward the man at a non-hurried pace. The initial feelings of uneasiness had passed and he felt a strange sense of calm. It did actually feel like he was home.

Tyren was a few feet from the man when he realized he was mumbling to himself.

"Gotta get out of here! I have to escape! Need to find a way out…" he was obviously scared witless and at first didn't seem to notice Tyren. He just continued to stumble around talking to himself. Tyren took that time to look him up and down. He stood at least half a foot shorter, and was bald. He was wearing a long torn robe that seemed to be red but Tyren had trouble with colors in the weird purple lighting. By then Tyren had come to this strange man's attention.

"HEY!!" he shouted and moved so fast he seemed to materialize next to Tyren. "Can you help me? Please!!" he begged.

Tyren didn't immediately answer. He was over come with the strangest feeling, like he had seen this guy before. But where…?

"Wait…it's you," gasped the man and grabbed Tyren by his shirt. "You did this to me! You sent me here! Let me out! NOW!!!" the man lost his footing and was completely hanging onto Tyren.

Tyren continued to rack his brain. He did remember something. A man who had offered him help…a man that pulled a knife on him. He also remembered being furious with this guy.

"I remember you," Tyren said quietly.

The man quickly let go of Tyren. He had noticed the shadow on his shoulders and backed away hurriedly.

"Look I'm sorry I tried to steal from you," he stammered. "But please-please let me out of here. Please," he sobbed.

A small part of him boiled to the top. It enjoyed watching him suffer. It wanted to leave the man here. Let the world have him for itself. Tyren quickly shook it off.

"Alright," said Tyren, still quiet and reserved. "I will let you out."

The man looked relieved. "Tha-Tha-Thank you," he stammered.

"What is your name?" asked Tyren.

"I-I-It's Xu," he chocked out.

Tyren began walking towards the crest of the hill.

"I'm Tyren," he said.

"W-Wa-Wait for me!" Xu pleaded.

"Hurry up," said Tyren. Xu obediently hurried to walk along side Tyren.

The whole way up the hill Xu continued to glance at Tyren nervously, as thought expecting him to lash out. Tyren, however, was at perfect peace. This place had started to grow on him. Already the sky seemed more mysterious and beautiful than frightening or unnerving. The two continued to the top of the hill in silence.

When they reached the top Xu's mouth dropped and Tyren's eyebrows rose.

"How long has that been there?" he muttered.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Fire Nation Prison**

The new prisoner was too quiet. The senior guards didn't like it. They claimed that everyone went crazy in there, and silence was never a good thing. Horzu was not that worried about it though.

He may be new but he didn't let some strong willed prisoner ruin his night. But still Horzu was as curious as the other ones.

This new guy was supposed to be incredibly dangerous and all powerful. That's what they had heard anyway.

"So what's so special about you," he muttered to the cell when the hallway was clear. From behind him there was no answer.

"C'mon are you just going to mope around in there for the rest of your life?" Horzu demanded. Again there was no answer, not even sounds of movement.

"Hey I'm talking to you," Horzu turned to face the prisoner. He was greeted with an empty cell.

Horzu lifted his visor in surprise and did a double check. _Nope defiantly not in there_.

He turned and bellowed down the hallway, "Breakout! Alert the Fire Lord, his prisoner has broken out!"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Tyren, Xu**

**Unknown**

"Do you have any idea how long that's been there?" inquired Tyren.

"I have no idea," said a shell shocked Xu.

"Interesting," muttered Tyren.

Nestled down in the valley of two shadowy hills was a little village. It seemed to be like the ground, made of shadows and not quite right.

"Come on," muttered Tyren, motioning for Xu to follow him to the village.

"So what happened to you after ummmm…I…you know threw you in here?" asked Tyren.

Xu's face spasmed with fear and he halted. Tyren stopped too.

"That bad?"

Xu simply nodded. "It was like reliving the worst moments of my life, and then some, again and again. There was also something really strange. Something almost human, but not quite. It hunted me. I thought I was going to die." He shuddered again.

Tyren glanced around the barren wastelands around the village. "Nothing here now," he said.

"No," agreed Xu. "He disappeared around when you showed up. And this freaky ground stuff," he said kicking at the shadow earth.

"This is too strange," muttered Tyren. They entered the town, relapsing in silence. It didn't take long for them to realize it was a ghost town. No one looked out the windows, no one walked the streets, and no noise came from the shops.

"Hello," shouted Xu. "Anyone here?"

"Hello deary," came a crackly voice from behind them. Xu jumped and spun around so fast he tripped over his own feet. Tyren spun around as well to find himself face to face with an old woman. She had a face full of wrinkles, with a crooked nose and baggy skin. She was hunched over and wearing too big of a shawl making her seem even smaller than she obviously was. She cackled at Xu's expression as he tried to regain his footing.

"Don't worry about me deary," she wheezed, "I'm not the one hunting you." Xu face turned even whiter and he shuddered.

"Who are you?" questioned Tyren.

The woman looked into his eyes. "Deary you really don't remember me?"

Tyren frowned and looked at her sharply. She knew him? He, at least, was supposed to know her.

"What are you talking about," demanded Tyren. The woman didn't answer; instead she seemed to tickle that shadow on Tyren's shoulder under the chin.

Tyren waited another second before saying impatiently, "How do I know you?"

The old lady again ignored his question.

Instead she turned away from Tyren and said, "Your friend is on the outskirts of town. If you hurry you may be able to get to her."

"Wait!" pleaded Tyren. "Can't you at least tell me where I am?"

The old woman paused at the doorstep of the building and looked back at Tyren.

"Didn't you listen deary? You're home," and with that she entered the strange building.

"Wait!" begged Tyren running after her.

He threw open the door to the building but was greeted by an empty room.

"Tyren?" said Xu timidly. He didn't immediately turn around. The thought that his first one true link to his past had just walked away and disappeared was killing him.

"Tyren we should go," said Xu. Again Tyren didn't respond.

"C'mon Tyren," repeated Xu and he worked up the courage to tug on Tyren's arm. Tyren snapped out of his trance.

"Right," he muttered and turned with Xu to leave the strange town.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Zuko**

**Fire Nation Palace**

Zuko was ready for bed. The shadowbender business had beaten everyone down and he was ready to set off to blissful sleep. Maybe some answers would come to him in sleep.

He was disappointed, however, by the arrival of a guard.

"Fire Lord Zuko," he gasped.

"What is it," Zuko asked, annoyed to have to deal with another problem.

"The prisoner you sent to us, well, we don't know how but he seems….he seems to have…." the guard couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Yes," said Zuko in a deadly tone.

"Escaped My Lord," mumbled the guard.

"I knew it," mumbled Zuko. Why had he bothered trusting him? Now he could be anywhere for all they knew.

"GO, wake the Avatar and his friends, quickly," Zuko ordered the guard.

"Yes My Lord," the guard said and exited quickly.

_I should have seen this coming _thought Zuko grimly. He pulled on his robe and rushed to the door. _But now we will have to stop him…permanently. _

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Tyren, Xu**

**Unknown**

Tyren and Xu exited and town and almost immediately it sank back into the ground.

"Well that was weird," said Xu.

"Now I wonder were that girl is," muttered Tyren.

"What girl?" asked Xu.

"I sent a girl here as well," murmured Tyren. "By accident of course."

"Oh, well I wish I would have seen her. I could have used the company," said Xu. As they continued walking Tyren had a strange feeling someone was watching them. They trudged on for a few more minutes before the weird feeling reached a peak. The voices in the back of his head, which he had been holding off for a while, now all spoke the same thing at the same time.

"Watch out!" they hissed.

Tyren suddenly felt like everything was in slow motion. His senses felt elevated and he became aware of everything around him. He could see everything in every direction. Behind him was where he saw the figure. Someone or something had just jumped, what seemed to Tyren in his heightened state, in slow motion towards the two.

"Watch out!" yelled Tyren mimicking the voices and pushing Xu out of the way. Tyren moved his head at the last minute and the girl missed it by inches. She continued into a summersault and turned to face them, hands ready in front of her.

Tyren immediately recognized her as the one he'd seen in the plaza. The only difference being that her green robes were ripped and torn.

"What you needed to bring a friend to try and finish me off?" she yelled and attacked again. Tyren didn't even bother bending, he just simply side stepped and ducked out of the way of Suki's attacks.

"Wait I-," he began.

"Shut up!" shouted Suki.

She renewed her assault, her strikes becoming more deadly and closer to their target. Most of the attacks Tyren dodged, but once again Suki's skills showed when she some of her hits began landing.

Xu, finally regaining his senses, rushed to help his new friend. But he stood no chance against a seasoned warrior like Suki. She made quick work of him, dodging his wild punches and kicks and smoothly taking out his legs. With a quick knock on the head Xu was boggled again.

"Looks like your friend wasn't quite up to it," Suki smirked. "Where did you dig him up, the sewer?"

"I just want to-," Tyren tried to say.

"What? Transport me to _another _dimension?" Suki lashed out again. This time Tyren caught her hand with a shadow. When she tried to hit him with her other hand Tyren caught it too. Before she could even think about using her feet, Tyren locked those down as well. Suki struggled against them, still trying to get to Tyren, nose to nose with him.

"If I wanted to kill you why haven't I attacked already?" Tyren growled.

Suki didn't answer.

"Now if you will calm down I think I can get us _all _out of here," Tyren said. Again Suki didn't answer. She just glared at Tyren with burning eyes.

"How?" she finally said warily. Tyren was relieved that she was finally listening, and released her. Suki stepped back still eying Tyren warily.

"I don't know how I just think I can do it," he admitted. This didn't help Suki's mood.

"Look I'm sorry I sent you hear but you were attacking me," said Tyren desperately. "I was protecting myself!"

Suki thought that over for a moment. She finally let down her guard.

"Alright, what do I do?" Tyren pulled Xu to his feet.

"Just stand kind of close to me," said Tyren. They stood close together in a kind of semi circle. Tyren took a deep breath letting his mind empty. Just focusing on the voices whispering in his head; letting them be the only thing he knew.

"Take us home," Tyren breathed. Immediately the shadows pounced on them. Suki jumped and tried to move but it was too late. The shadows overtook her. They quickly did the same to Xu, who was white as snow.

Just as they were moving in on Tyren a voice echoed around, blocking out the other ones. It was loud, commanding, and gravely. It let out a booming laugh.

"But Tyren you are home," it mocked. "The Shadow World is your home."

Before Tyren could demand to know what the voice ment the shadows overtook him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Aang, Katara, Zuko, Sokka, Toph**

**Fire Nation Prison**

Everyone had jumped immediately at the guard's message and, along with Zuko, rushed to the prison. Zuko and Sokka had overtaken everyone else and were leading the way up the winding staircase. Close behind them was Aang while Katara and Toph lagged behind.

"Come on faster!" yelled Sokka over his shoulder.

"We're here," said Zuko skidding to a halt. Not bothering with the key, Zuko blasted the door of its hinges. What they saw stopped everyone dead.

Tyren was not only back in his cell, but he had brought some guests. There was a stunned looking bald guy sitting on the dingy floor, looking confused, but Sokka only had eyes for the other person with them.

He walked as if in a daze towards Suki. He touched her face, unsure if he was dreaming or not.

"Suki?" he said hoarsely. Sokka didn't dare believe it was her.

"It's me Sokka," she smiled and kissed him. Tears began falling down both their faces and they stood there, Sokka supporting the exhausted Suki.

The others only had eyes for Tyren. He stood there, his brown eyes flickering to everyone else. They finally rested on Aang's. The Avatar and the shadowbender locked eyes, not saying anything, unsure of what came next.

_How bout it? Suki is back baby. Sorry guys who wanted Toph to take the "dead" Suki's place but I didn't feel like doing that. So can Team Avatar hope to trust Tyren? Mmmmm….find out!!!_

**I own Tyren. Don't take him. Ask me first. **


	7. Memories

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**Chapter7: Memories **

**Everyone8d ASC**

**Palace Dining Room**

It was a very awkward moment. Zuko had ordered that Tyren be escorted back to the palace. Xu had been brought along as well.

When Zuko had wanted to know who Xu was Tyren had told them his name and simply called him "A friend," much to Xu's surprise.

Now all of them, except for Xu who stood in the corner, sat around Zuko's big dining room table.

Zuko sat at the head of the table, glaring at Tyren and never once taking his eyes off him. Mai, who had shown up tight lipped and furious, sat on his right; eyes flashing from her boyfriend to the shadowbender and back.

Next to Mai were Sokka and Suki. They had been inseparable since they had left the prison. Suki had her head resting on Sokka's shoulder who was stroking her hair softly, not taking his eyes of hers.

Aang was across from them. He was tapping his hand nervously against the table. His eyes kept flashing all over the room, but he pointedly never looked at Tyren. Katara was next to him. She refused to look up, instead glaring at her shoes as if they were at fault for the mess they were in.

Toph sat next to them, blind eyes staring blankly at her feet propped out in front of her. She had continued her non-caring attitude through out all of this and had the air of someone who wanted to take a nap.

Xu continued to glance nervously around in his corner. He had refused his seat, fearing if he sat down he wouldn't be getting back up.

Tyren sat at the far end of the table by himself. He kept glancing at everyone at the table, guessing their thoughts.

The blind one was putting on that she was unfazed by Tyren, but he knew that was a mask. The voices told him she was nervous and unsure around him.

The one with olive skin and blue eyes must think he was some kind of monster. She refused to look at him and her glare looked like it could kill.

The couple, Sokka and Suki those were their names, were just staring at each other. They obviously were in love and not bothered by Tyren at the moment.

The bald one with the arrows was nervous as could be. If the tapping of his hands wasn't enough it was etched into his face like stone.

The girl in the black seemed the friendliest to Tyren. She didn't seem to fear him, instead put on the air of being bored by the whole thing.

The one with the scar, the _Fire Lord, _was the one Tyren kept locking eyes with. He obviously didn't like Tyren and he wasn't too sure of him either.

Xu was also someone Tyren kept looking at with some amusement. He seemed flustered by being in the presence of this Fire Lord and he also eyeballed the kid with the arrows like he was someone important.

_He probably isn't too sure of me either _Tyren thought and couldn't repress a small grin.

"Some thing funny?" snapped the Fire Lord.

Tyren's eyes flashed at him. "Just a funny thought." The Fire Lord resumed his frown and glare position. Everyone continued with the silence.

"This is weird," muttered Sokka.

"You're telling me," whispered Tyren. "I'm having trouble seeing the guy."

"What?" said Aang interested.

"Yeah, he keeps sliding out of focus, like he's made of sand," replied Toph.

Aang was extremely interested by this. So Toph had trouble seeing Tyren? Aang looked at Zuko.

"You going to be able to hold off on killing this guy while we talk," he asked him.

"I don't know," muttered Zuko, closing his eyes. "I can't tell if I want to do it now and save us the trouble of finding out he'll betray us or keep him around to find out what I can about him."

"I kind of feel sorry for him," murmured Mai. Zuko looked incredulously at her but Aang saw her point. Sure he had attacked them but he didn't know who he was and he had tried to make up for it.

Finally they were interrupted by a servant holding a small plate of food.

"Thank you, you may leave," said Zuko, not taking his eyes of Tyren. The servant bowed and left.

Tyren looked at the assortment of food. He remembered the names of all of these fruits but couldn't remember were he was from? He also noticed it was all fruit, no meat.

_I must not be worth it _Tyren thought and grinned again.

"What's so funny?" demanded Zuko. "I'd like to know."

Tyren looked back up at him. "It was nothing. Thank you for the food." Tyren bowed his head at him. Zuko didn't reply.

Tyren began eating. It wasn't a fast hurried pace, like he was starving, it was slow and steady almost methodical.

"Now we-," began Zuko but Tyren raised a hand to cut him off. He turned to Xu.

"Won't you join me?" Tyren asked him.

Xu looked surprised. "You want me to eat with you? After what I did?"

Tyren chuckled. "I believe my fault was greater."

Xu timidly moved forward and took a seat beside Tyren. After a little prompting he took a small amount of the food for himself.

"If I may continue," growled Zuko.

"Please," smiled Tyren pleasantly.

"We've decided to hear your story. What can you tell us that will give us reason to…trust you," Zuko said the words like he didn't believe he would ever trust Tyren.

"Well I am afraid I must disappoint you. I remember simple facts, like what the stars are and what fruit is in front of me. I also remember what bending is but I don't know if I was one before….this," he paused. Everyone eyed the shadows in the room warily. "As for my past, I don't remember anything before waking up in a cave, and even the first two days after that are hard to recall.

"So you can't give us any clue to what nation you came from?" asked Zuko.

"What there's more than the Fire Nation?" asked Tyren, raising an eyebrow.

Zuko and Aang looked at each other. This was starting to seem hopeless.

"You don't remember anything about are world besides bending?" asked Aang.

Tyren stared hard at Aang who immediately felt nervous.

"I think introductions are in order," said Tyren said softly.

"Oh, right…"

"I am Fire Lord Zuko as you know," said Zuko standing up. He still kept his eyes locked with Tyren. Tyren held his gaze for a few seconds before looking at Aang again.

"I am Avatar Aang," he said.

"What's the Avatar," asked a perplexed Tyren. No one could believe that.

"Doesn't even know who the Avatar is," snorted Katara. She still was glaring at the ground.

"No I don't, and I apologize for my ignorance Katara," Tyren replied coolly. Katara immediately jumped up and bent ice picks at Tyren.

"How do you know my name?" she demanded. "I never told you!" Tyren could tell she was frightened.

"I….," Tyren could think of no reply.

"You'll have to explain that," said Zuko.

"It doesn't matter," mumbled Tyren.

"Yes it does matter," shot Zuko.

Tyren glared at him. "Fine but you'll think I'm crazy. You know I've been hearing voices in my head ever since I woke up in that cave. They're one of the reasons I lost it. It's very hard to concentrate with them in your ear all the time. It's the shadows whispering to me. They tell me things that are happening and if I listen I can understand them. They also listen to me," he finished.

"They listen to you?" asked Suki. "What do you mean?

"They brought me to that Shadow World we were in earlier. I asked them where you were and that's where they brought me," said Tyren.

Suki seemed surprised by that.

"Just forget it," muttered Tyren.

The introductions continued.

"I'm Toph," said the blind earthbender. Tyren glanced at her and his eyes lingered before he looked back down the line.

"And I know you two already," he said motioning to Sokka and Suki. They both said nothing.

"I'm Mai," said Mai and she lifted a gloved hand in greeting. Tyren returned it and turned to Xu.

"This is Xu, for those of you that don't know. He was in the Shadow World as well."

"You put him there," said Katara. It was a comment not a question.

"Yeah I was at the wrong place, wrong time," said Xu feebly.

"What happened in that prison cell," demanded Zuko. Tyren again began starring at Zuko as though it was a game to see who blinked first.

"I told you I asked the shadows were Suki was and they brought me to some strange place," said Tyren.

"You called it the Shadow World. Why?" asked Suki.

Tyren ignored the question. He didn't feel like telling all of them about the voice that had spoken over all the others.

"That's were I found Suki, Xu, and…" his voice trailed off. He remembered the strange old lady in the Shadow World. The lady that supposedly knew him

"And?" asked Zuko.

"I'd rather keep that private," said Tyren softly.

"You-," began Zuko.

"Zuko," cut in Mai. Zuko looked at her and let it drop.

"So here we are," finished Tyren. Everyone thought over this strange story. A mysterious stranger shows up out of nowhere that can control shadows and knew nothing about his past except his name? It seemed farfetched even for a group that had been through so much lately.

"Thank you for telling us what's happened," said Aang politely.

"But we will have to ask you to leave so we can decide what to do with you," cut in Zuko. Tyren glanced at Xu.

"Do you need to do anything to him? He didn't do anything," Tyren said.

Xu shook his head, "It's alright. Don't worry about it."

"He doesn't deserve to be punished." stated Tyren firmly. Zuko didn't say anything.

"He's right Zuko," said Mai.

Zuko gave in. "Alright so what should we do with you?"

"Give him a job," Tyren said before Xu could answer.

"What?" demanded Zuko.

"What you couldn't use another pair of hands in a place like this?" Give him a job," repeated Tyren.

"Alright," snapped Zuko. "Report to the servant's quarters tomorrow," he said to Xu.

"Yes, th-thank you sir," Xu gasped and rushed out of the room.

Tyren grinned and leaned back in his chair.

"Guard, escort Mr. Tyren out of here and into the parlor," ordered Zuko.

Tyren stood and allowed the guard to lead him out of the room.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So, what do we do?" asked Zuko.

No one knew how to answer.

"Look we either have to give this guy our trust or we lock him up for safekeeping. So I say we just vote one it," said Sokka.

"Woah when did you get all wise?" laughed Toph.

"He's right," agreed Aang. "We'll all put it to a vote."

"Suki," Aang said turning to her. "He kidnapped you. You should have first vote."

Suki closed her eyes and thought hard for a few seconds.

"He may have captured me but he also rescued me," she said finally. "He apologized and I believe he didn't mean it." She took a deep breath. "I say give him a chance."

"Sokka?" asked Aang.

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "He did bring Suki back but he hurt her; he hurt all of us. I don't think I'll be able to trust him yet. I vote no."

"What about you Zuko? It's your nation," Aang asked turning to the Fire Lord.

"He may have apologized but those can be faked….I would know," Zuko said stiffly. "If Roku warned you against this guy I think we should probably listen. I say no."

"Katara," said Aang softly.

Katara looked up from the floor. "When we fought him tonight I saw something that scared me. He may have been weaker and confused but…," she paused. "But he had the same look in his eye as my mother's killer," she finally said quietly. No one dared to speak. "I can't trust him. No."

"Alright," said Aang quietly. "Toph?"

Toph thought for a moment. "You know I can usually read people really well," she said softly. "But this guy's different. I can't read him well, but I feel like he can't be all bad. He's just a confused guy with a special power. I say we give him his shot."

"What about you Mai?" asked Zuko quietly.

Mai looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry Zuko but I have to disagree with you. We did attack him first; he had good reason to defend himself, and I think his apologies were sincere. Not to mention everyone you think is evil isn't always…as you should know," she said quietly. Zuko stiffened and looked away. "I say yes," she finished.

"Aang you're the Avatar. Your vote is final," said Zuko.

Aang looked nervously around the table. Either decision could be a good one or a disaster. All his friends had valid reasons and feelings. Finally he sighed, finally reaching a decision.

"The monks always taught me to go search for the good inside all people. This guy is no different from you really Zuko," Aang regretted using his friend as a example but it made sense. "We'll give him one chance."

No one cheered at the news but no one spoke out against it. Sokka, Zuko, and Katara all just shrugged and the other four looked at their feet, hoping they had made the right choice.

"Let's go tell him," said Aang.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tyren sat down on one of the comfortable easy chairs. He was not upset with his decision to get Xu a second chance. He deserved it and frankly he had started growing on Tyren.

He wasn't anxious either. Maybe them giving him another chance was the world's way of giving him another chance from some horrible life he couldn't remember anymore. And if they tried to lock him up…..well there's always Plan B.

He sat in silence, hoping he wouldn't have you use Plan B, when the gang walked in. The kid who called himself the Avatar, Aang, spoke to him.

"We've decided to give you a chance to prove yourself," he said.

"Thank you-," began a relieved Tyren.

"But," cut in Zuko, "you will be living in the palace and be under extreme supervision. One step out of line and you're done."

"Ahhh," smiled Tyren, "so you don't fully trust me."

"No," said Aang simply.

"Well then I thank you for your hospitality _Fire Lord,_" said Tyren bowing. "It is appreciated," and he offered Zuko a hand.

Zuko looked at it and fought over whether to take it or not.

"C'mon," Tyren grinned.

Zuko frowned but took the hand. Lightning fast two shadows jumped out and snaked their way down Tyren's arm and up Zuko's.

"What the-," began Zuko before the shadows entered his ears and he started spasming.

His life literally flashed before his eyes. It started with his earliest memory of playing with his mother. Carrying on from there he remembered laughing with his uncle at the palace, playing with Azula, his Uncle leaving for war, his finding out that his cousin died, his mother leaving, being scarred and banished, hunting the avatar for so many years, all his accomplishments and defeats, betraying his uncle, returning home, leaving and joining the Avatar, battling Azula, becoming Fire Lord.

Every single memory he had ever had, every moment of his life played in front of him at the speed of light. Then before anyone could move the shadows jumped out of Zuko's ears and jumped into Tyren's. Tyren went rigid and began experiencing everything Zuko had.

All these memories that weren't his played out in front of him. Names, places, dates, events, things he had no idea about entered his brain followed quickly by the memory to explain it.

They both stood there, Tyren and Zuko, rigid as boards and still connected by their handshake. Then just as suddenly they broke apart and fell to the ground.

"What was that?" gasped Zuko. Mai helped her boyfriend to his feet gingerly.

"I have no idea," wheezed Tyren, holding the coach for support. "I didn't know that would happen if I touched you."

"What did you see?" demanded Zuko straitening up.

"Everything," gasped Tyren, still out of breath. "Every memory you have ever had."

"Everything?"

Tyren nodded catching his breath.

"So what do you know?" asked Zuko darkly.

"I know what a Fire Lord and an Avatar are," said Tyren simply.

"No, what do you know from me?" Zuko muttered.

"I know your mother's name is Ursa, you got that scar on your face from an Agni Kai with your father Ozai, you have another star shaped one on your chest after an Agni Kai with your sister, you love Mai…." Tyren recited like it was written in front of him.

"Ok," cut in Zuko quickly. The others actually giggled.

"You had no idea that would happen?" asked Aang.

"No, I'm still kind of learning about this too ohhhhh….," Tyren stopped and clutched his head.

"What is it," asked Toph.

"Massive head ache," gasped Tyren. "Uh…," Tyren breathed in heavily for a few seconds before letting go of his head.

"You normally get those?" asked Mai.

"Kind of," chuckled Tyren. "I wonder if I could do that again." He turned to Aang. "Could I try it on you?"

Everyone immediately stiffened.

"Why Aang?" demanded Katara.

"Well he is the Avatar," pointed out Tyren, "he would defiantly bring me up to speed."

Aang didn't seem convinced.

"C'mon I won't suck your brain out," laughed Tyren. No one returned his laugh. Aang looked into Tyren's eyes and he didn't see anything dangerous.

"Alright," said Aang.

"Aang what are you doing?" demanded Katara furiously.

"Look Katara I have to back up my decision to trust this guy. It'll be aright," Aang smiled.

Tyren reached out a shaking hand slowly towards Aang. He lightly touched him on his arrow and shadows jumped into Aang like they had with Zuko.

Aang saw his own life began flashing before his eyes. All his days at the temple, every moment with monk Gyatso, finding out he was the Avatar, learning the monks were trying to send him away, running away, Katara rescuing him, and all their adventures around the world.

But when it got to that moment below Be Sing Se, before Azula struck him with lightning, is when the strange stuff began. Lightning seemed to radiate off of Aang. Everyone in the room took an extra step back, afraid of getting electrocuted. The visions continued in Aang's head. He saw remembered waking up, of all the adventures in the Fire Nation, and the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai.

Lightning still shooting off Aang, the shadows jumped out of Aang and into Tyren. It was the same strange sensation as it was last time. He saw every moment the life that was not his; thing like fun in the air temples to adventures in the earth kingdom.

But there was a certain memory that stuck out. In this memory everything stopped. Tyren realized he was in a large underground cavern, surrounded by soldiers he knew to be Dai Li and Zuko at the head of the pack. Off to the right was Katara also surrounded by Dai Li and ready for a fight. Tyren was elevated off the ground and had a feeling of hopelessness.

This thought was interrupted by lightning blasting through him. Unbelievable pain and agony shot through Tyren as memories and the real world flashed in front of him, blending together.

In the real world the lightning that had been building up in Aang slid off of him and strait into Tyren. He was lit up like a firework and began screaming horribly.

But it didn't end. Tyren still experienced every memory after that. The memories of sneaking their way through the Fire Nation, the Siege, and defeating Ozai all playing out in front of him while this incredible pain shot through his body.

With an enormous explosion Aang and Tyren were blown apart. Aang was caught by Katara but Tyren went flying over the chairs and hit the ground hard.

"Aang!" yelled Katara checking over her boyfriend. "Aang are you alright?"

"I'm alright Katara, I'm alright," Aang said shakily. He managed to stand up.

Tyren was not so lucky. He staggered to his feet, smoking. He held his chest and was breathing heavily again. When he removed his hand everyone jumped back. Tyren had a large, blood stained hole in his chest leading all the way through to his back. Aang knew this must be what his looked like exactly.

But before anyone could say anything the wound shrunk and disappeared.

"Seems I get to feel more than just your memories I get your emotions and pain," gasped Tyren. "Probably where the headaches come from." And sure enough Tyren clutched his head in pain.

"So why didn't you get a face scar?" asked Zuko, perplexed.

"Good question. I can feel that pain if I go to that memory but it didn't do near what that did," said Tyren. He shook his head still taking deep breaths.

"I think I better go to bed," said Tyren striating up, "before I do something else."

With that he turned to leave the room. He stopped at the doorway though and looked back at Aang.

"And that day in Be Sing Se…you didn't fail. No one thinks you failed," and with that Tyren left.

Aang watched the door he had walked out feeling quite confused.

Life with Tyren had officially begun.

_This was another one of those slower chapters. But hey you got to see some of Tyren's crazy powers. You also got a feel on how everybody feels about him. Keep up the reviews and ideas. Thanks for you people that did review. _


	8. Earning Trust: Zuko

_Here you go guys. Sorry it took as long as it did. Would have been sooner if it wasn't for my insane life. Enjoy._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**I do own Tyren and Xu. **

**Chapter8: Earning Trust: Zuko**

**Zuko, Mai 9dASC**

**Palace Bedroom **

Zuko turned out of bed sleepily.

It took him a couple of minutes to remember why he was so sore. Then last nights events rolled in and the pain all over his body seemed to double.

Zuko couldn't help but feel like he was living with a monster. It felt like putting his father and sister under the same roof with him again. He just had the bad feeling that trusting Tyren would backfire, just as it had when he had trusted Azula.

He walked out to his balcony and soaked up the sun. He breathed in the cool air blowing in his face but it didn't help like he hoped it would. He had a headache building up and it was starting to reach its peak. Mai had brushed it off as just being tired but Zuko knew better. He knew that Tyren shuffling through his brain had done it.

That had been the most unpleasant experience in his life. All his memories were so good, but so bad it was painful to think of them now.

His childhood memories had been tantalizing. There had been so much happiness and love back then. Looking at it again last night, it seemed like a treat that had been waved in front on him and then rudely taken back.

Then there were his banished years. Those were just as bad as his childhood had been good. Every single mistake he had ever made shoved back into his face for him to see. His stupidity and disloyalty had been even more obvious in those memories now.

Zuko shook his head, trying to get rid of all the confusing thoughts and feelings in his head. He looked for something else to think about and found he was also angry….at Tyren.

He had shuffled through his mind like an open book and he had no right to. Not to mention there were plenty of things he would rather not become public knowledge.

Fire Nation secrets and strategies were constantly thrown at him and now someone that he wasn't too sure he could trust knew them all. If Tyren did go rouge then that would be the end of the Fire Nation. He would know were to strike, when to strike, and who to go after.

He also knew the one thing closest to his heart. He turned to Mai, who was still sleeping peacefully.

She had declined to return to her parent's house, instead staying with Zuko.

He didn't mind though. Having Mai close to him always made things easier. He wasn't sure he would've even fallen asleep if she hadn't been there with him.

Zuko wasn't upset with Mai's choice to trust Tyren either. He may not agree with it, but Mia could choose.

_I wonder if she would choose me? _thought Zuko bitterly.

Marriage had been on Zuko's mind a lot, especially lately. He couldn't find a reason why he shouldn't just ask her. Mai practically lived in the palace anyway so there wouldn't be any problems there. Her parents had already given Zuko their blessings when they had returned after the war. All he really needed to do was buck up and do it.

Zuko let out a long sigh again. And to think he still had to rebuild a world after a hundred years of war.

He sat back down next to Mai and began stroking her hair softly. All of these problems revolved through his head and his headache seemed to double. Zuko wished there just was some easy way out of this. All the problems he would have to deal with, all the questions he would have to answer, and….those problems he didn't want to deal with.

Zuko glanced up at the ceiling. Tyren was somewhere above him, maybe sleeping maybe just waking. Knowing that an all powerful, possibly psychotic shadowbender was two rooms above him was not comforting to his already aching head.

Zuko was so deep in thought he didn't even notice that Mai had woken up till she planted a kiss on him.

"Good morning," she said.

Zuko didn't immediately respond.

"Zuko?" Mai tried again.

"Oh, yeah sorry…good morning." said Zuko snapping out of his thoughts.

Mai frowned at him. "What's wrong Zuko?"

"Nothings wrong, I'm just thinking," said Zuko. He still was glancing up.

"Your still mad at me aren't you," said Mai her face turning stony.

"No," said Zuko quickly looking at her, "It's not that I swear. You were at perfectly liberty to make your choice. You don't always have to agree with me."

"So then you're still worried about him then?" asked Mai glancing up as well.

Zuko looked away.

"Or are you worried about what he found in you head?" Mai asked quietly.

Zuko stiffened. She knew him so well and she had hit both of his problems on the head.

"Come on Zuko," she said kissing him again, "Don't shut me out. Talk to me."

Zuko sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. Where should I begin? For one we have to rebuild an entire world. Now on top of that we get warned that an extremely powerful bad guy is coming for us. So what do we do when we find this guy? We feed him, cloth him, and give him a place to stay. Why don't we just cut our own feet out from under us?" Zuko was really working up a storm. Mai listened, expression blank.

"And now this evil guy has all of mine and the Avatars memories. I'd rather him not know all of the Fire Nations secrets you know? Then there are the more…personal things-," Zuko stopped and took a deep breath.

"From your family?" asked Mai quietly.

"Some of them, yeah," muttered Zuko.

"Zuko, do you remember what I told you at your birthday party?' Mai asked looking into Zuko's eyes.

"Yeah, I know I need to chill," Zuko mumbled.

"No not that," said Mai crossly, "the part when I said we'll get through this together."

"Oh, right I remember that," mumbled Zuko.

"Well this is no different. We'll get through this together, too. And I still love you." Mai smiled.

Zuko chuckled. "Good cause I love you too." He gave her another kiss.

It was the best kiss they had in along time. When they separated Zuko felt much, much better.

"You know we could just stay in here," said Mai playfully. "Who needs to see those other guys? It could just be you, me, and the day."

Zuko wanted to very badly. Mai looked so beautiful and the more time they spent together the better Zuko always felt. Sadly, however, duty had to call.

"I'd love to but I have a meeting with our generals at noon," groaned Zuko.

_Duty sucks _he thought.

Mai grinned. "Well after that who's to say what we could do?" teased Mai as she walked into the bathroom.

Zuko watched her go and realized his mouth was open. Yes Mai was defiantly the girl for him.

Grudgingly Zuko turned to prepare for his meeting, whishing he didn't have to leave.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zuko walked down the familiar hallway to the war room.

Bad memories haunted him all the way down the hall, but he knew they would pass. Ever since his memories had been "borrowed" by Tyren he seemed to remember everything clearer than before. So for now Zuko suffered with horrible memories from his past. This was not his favorite hallway.

"Good luck," came a voice from behind him.

Zuko spun around to face the speaker hands raised.

Aang jumped back in surprise at Zuko's reaction. "Woah there, sorry buddy."

"Oh it's you Aang. Sorry my mind is on other thing," said Zuko dropping his guard.

"Well it is a so important meeting," said Aang smiling. He enjoyed not being obligated to being in these meetings. "I'll leave you to it."

"Thanks," mumbled Zuko turning away to face the door again.

"One more thing," said Aang. "We can't find Tyren." he said the last part very quickly.

"What!" yelled Zuko rounding on Aang again.

"We were all eating breakfast and he never came down," said Aang in a small voice. "When that Xu guy went to go get him he was gone. He said it looked like he never even used the room. The bed was still made perfectly and everything.

"Keep looking," ordered Zuko. "I don't want him wandering around."

"Right," mumbled Aang.

Still grumbling to himself about the shadowbender he turned and entered the war room.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The meeting was going about as well as the Black Sun Siege. Whenever Zuko thought they were about to make some kind of progress, some general brought up and argument and no decision could be made.

Everyone had their own views on how to deal with the renegade soldiers.

Most agreed with Zuko, demanding that all outposts be brought back and those rouge deserters be taken care of when they were welcome to help.

But some stood behind a certain general in keeping as many Earth Kingdom outposts as possible.

This leading general was and man named Jun. He defended the Fire Nations supremacy with a fire that surpassed everyone else and was only matched by Zuko's desire for peace. They often quarreled during these meetings and this one was no different.

"We can not give up all that we have gained Fire Lord. I must _respectively _disagree with the vote to move every outpost from the Earth Kingdom," said General Jun fiercely. They had been arguing for the past hour on the subject and were getting nowhere.

_Maybe I should have stayed with Mai _thought Zuko.

"General we are looking for a time of peace, not more war. Moving everyone out of the Earth Kingdom is the only way to surely quite the fighting.

"But Fire Lord Zuko, what of us? What of the nation that you lead? Would you try and make peace with people that hat us and may mount an attack against us? Would you put your trust into people you can't fully trust or know about?" demanded General Jun

_If you only knew _thought Zuko frowning.

"People hate us Fire Lord Zuko, and by leaving unprepared we leave ourselves open for an assault." continued Jun. The other generals whispered to themselves about what they should decide.

"Not pulling out would ensure even more fights than if we did," said Zuko again. His patience was running thin.

"But we would not leave ourselves to be slaughtered. That is my point, we don't want our people to be slaughtered because we gave trust to those who don't deserve it," protested Jun.

"The point, General," came a cold voice, "is to ensure the end of a hundred year war not start a new one."

All the generals and Zuko looked around for the speaker. He was not immediately visible since his cloths were so dark but Zuko finally saw him in the corner. His eyes widened in surprise.

Tyren was leaning against the wall looking like he was having the time of his life listening to the Fire Lord and his generals bicker. He was no longer in prison garb, but what looked like a black tunic and pant that reminded Zuko of pictures of the Fire Ninjas. His hair was also shorter but still had a blown back look like he had stood out in the middle of a storm for a while. He was smirking too like he knew some joke they would all love to be in on.

"How did you get in here?" demanded Zuko.

Tyren pointed his thumb behind him. "Secret door. I was exploring and found it behind some wall. It came out here."

"Well you may leave now," sneered Jun. "You have no business being in here."

"I'll leave general," Tyren grinned, "when I've had my say."

Zuko's eyes flashed to Tyren in warning. Tyren simply grinned wider.

"You-," began Jun furiously.

"Yes, you see I could tell from your little triad you were looking for a fight," cut in Tyren. "So here I am."

Jun looked dumbfounded. No one had dared to speak to him like this before.

"Maybe you missed the memo, but the war is done and over. The fighting would like to be stopped. You're not in Fire Lord Ozai's presence any more; fighting isn't going to be your topics of discussion.

All the generals were shell shocked. Even Zuko was too dumbfounded to stop Tyren.

"So open your eyes and clear out your thick head general. Move the troops out of the Earth Kingdom. Everyone would be better off, especially you." Tyren grinned cockily again. "I hear not listening to your Fire Lord is bad for your future."

The room seemed to reverberate with Jun's fury, Tyren's cockiness, and everyone else's surprise.

"You dare," said Jun quietly, "you dare to insult me! You dare to insult me in front of the other generals _and _the Fire Lore? You disrupt our meeting, insult the Fire Nation, and you _dare _to insult me!"

Tyren continued to grin and locked eyes with the furious general.

"Why yes, yes I do."

Zuko groaned silently. He knew what was coming next.

"There is only one thing to do now," rumbled Jun.

"Please no," murmured Zuko.

"I challenge you to an Agni Kai!" roared the General.

"No," groaned Zuko.

Tyren however was all grins.

"Alright general, I accept your challenge." he said. He mock bowed and motioned for Jun to lead the way out the door.

General Jun stiffened in anger and stormed out of the war room, followed closely by the other generals.

Tyren and Zuko were quickly the only ones left in the war room. Tyren, pretending not to notice Zuko's anger, looked around the war room.

"Nice place," he said examining the world map.

"What were you thinking?" demanded Zuko in a deadly tone.

"He needed to be put in his place," shrugged Tyren. "You don't like him anyway."

"That's not the point," snapped Zuko. "And how would you know I don't like him?"

"It's kind of obvious," Tyren smirked. "And I do have your memories."

Zuko didn't know how to respond to that.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said finally.

"I know," said Tyren. "But I had a feeling that if I didn't do it you would have."

"Then it would have been my problem," shot back Zuko.

"I need to prove myself, to you" responded Tyren.

Again Zuko didn't know how to respond to that.

"How do you plan to fight him if you can't firebend?" asked Zuko.

Tyren looked like he hadn't thought of that.

"Good point. I don't suppose I could shadowbend could I?" he asked.

Zuko's face answered his question.

"Alright I'll just use my wits," chuckled Tyren.

With that he turned to leave. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at Zuko.

"I apologize for interrupting your meeting _Fire Lord," _and with that he left.

Zuko stood by himself for a few more minutes, somewhat amused by the turn of events.

This morning he didn't think he'd be able to ever trust Tyren. Now he silently hoped he whipped the floor with General Jun.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The stands were packed with people by the time Zuko got to the Agni Kai arena. All the servants and palace guests had shown up, along with many guards and off duty soldiers.

The news that the fearsome General Jun would face a bold mysterious man had spread like wildfire. Zuko took his seat in the middle of the stands. He glanced at the two fighters and found the difference between the two unbelievable.

Jun was the picture of seriousness. He already had his cloak off and was kneeling with his back to Tyren, glaring at everyone in the crowd.

Tyren, however, was standing up along the sidelines. He was talking to a nervous Xu and laughing.

"So this is the stranger everyone has been talking about," said Iroh coming up behind Zuko.

"Yeah," said Zuko plainly. Iroh had not been awake for last night's events and didn't know who or what Tyren was.

"He seems very calm," said Iroh referring to Tyren's laughing face as opposed to his worried friend.

"Yeah for someone who can't firebend," said Zuko dryly.

"What!" exclaimed Iroh. "He can't bend and he's doing an Agni Kai?"

"He accepted before I could make that point," defended Zuko. "There's no going back now."

Iroh's face turned grim. "Are you going to be able to watch?"

Zuko closed his eyes. "Yeah I'll be fine."

"ZUKO, what are you doing?" yelled an angry voice from behind him. Zuko turned to find Mai an inch from his own face. Her look was one of complete fury.

"I ask you to relax about Tyren and you put the guy in an Agni Kai? You know he can't bend in front of people!" she screamed.

Iroh looked, confused, at the two.

"I'll explain later," Zuko muttered to him.

"What were you thinking?" demanded Mai.

"I didn't put him in this he did himself!" defended Zuko. Mai scanned the arena.

"He challenged Jun?"

"Yeah," said Zuko.

"It's about time someone did," she muttered. She sat down next to Zuko.

"I guess we better begin," mumbled Zuko. He stood and the whole crowd fell silent.

"If the warrior's are ready the Agni Kai will begin," he announced. Tyren grinned and took the same position as Jun on his side of the field. Zuko paused a few more seconds. "Begin!"

Jun didn't even bother turning around, deciding he would strike first. He firebent fire from his feet strait at Tyren. Tyren rolled to the right and turned to face Jun, grinning.

The fighters circled each other for a few seconds, neither daring to make a move. Juan again broke the pause first, punching at Tyren.

He simply responded with an impressive display of agility jumping over the ball of fire. The crowd gasped at Tyren's impressive speed.

When Tyren landed he continued to grin to Jun's face. Jun roared with fury and renewed his assault with powerful impressive punches and kicks. Tyren simply got set in his defensive position; feet shoulder length apart, hands up facing the sky and up around his shoulders.

When the fire was just about to hit him, Tyren jumped off one foot to the side and moved his hands fluidly with his body. He continued to jump from one foot to another, dodging past all of Jun's attacks. As the onslaught continued Tyren's jumps also began moving him closer and closer to Jun.

Jun noticed the tactic and shot a line of fire that could not be sidestepped. Zuko leaned in closer, intrigued to know how Tyren would respond.

Tyren ran unfazed right at the fire. At the last second he skid on his knees and leaned back under the fire. Everyone saw that the fire pass inches from Zuko's face and let out new gasps. Tyren immediately jumped up from his knees and continued running at Jun.

Jun's eyes widened and he tried to begin striking Tyren again. But it was too late. Tyren was close enough he simply knocked Jun's hand up and the fire shot harmlessly into the air. The two were so close together now that whenever Jun tried to attack Tyren would easily knock his hands and feet back or stop them from reaching their target, causing fire to fly all around the arena.

Eventually Jun realized he wouldn't win if he was this close to Tyren so he tried to shoot a jet of fire from his foot to propel himself backwards.

Tyren saw his chance for an offensive move. He kicked Jun's foot hard enough that instead of the fire shooting Jun back it propelled him forward. Tyren kicked him in the ribs as hard as he could as he passed and Jun fell to his knees clutching his gut. While Jun was down like this Tyren lifted his foot high and brought down his heel onto the back of his head.

Without removing his foot he stood on Jun's head and whispered to him.

"Yield."

Jun struggled defiantly for a few seconds.

But he couldn't get up and chocked out, "I yield."

Tyren stepped back, no grin on his face anymore.

"It's over," he announced. The stadium was deathly quite for one second before it erupted into cheers and applause.

Xu was beside himself. "Woooo! That's my buddy! Woooo!"

Even Zuko had a small grin on his face as he began clapping. Tyren simply grinned again and turned to leave the stadium.

Jun stood on shaky legs and glared at the back of the stranger getting applause. His applause!

"You son of a-," he muttered and he shot the biggest ball of fire he could at Tyren. Some one screamed and Tyren looked back at the fireball as though it was only a very insignificant object. Zuko was reminded of an Agni Kai he had once and jumped down in-between the fireball and its target.

He blasted it away with an attack of his own and glared at Jun.

"You were beaten Jun. And now you try and attack him when his back is turned? You disrespect my friend that means you have disrespected me. You are dismissed as general. Leave."

Jun locked eyes with Zuko and for a moment it looked as though he would attack again. But he turned; shoulders slumped and left the arena. The cheering began again and Zuko turned to Tyren.

Tyren looked at Zuko amused. "You called me friend?"

"Well you did get rid of an annoying general for me," chuckled Zuko.

Tyren laughed at that. "Does this mean you trust me now?"

Zuko thought for a moment. "Yes I guess it does," and he offered him his hand.

Roaring with laughter Tyren took it. Still chortling Tyren left the arena along with Xu.

Zuko shook his head still laughing to himself. This morning he hadn't trusted Tyren worth anything. Now he thought he had just made a great friend. He turned to rejoin his uncle and Mai. He would have to explain this all to Uncle.

As he got closer he groaned when he saw the look on Mai's face. He was going to hear about this one for sure.

_There you go. A little more Maiko stuff and Tyren shows off his moves. Beat down Jun without having to bend. Awesome. Hope you enjoyed it. R&R. _


	9. Earning Trust: Sokka and Suki

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**Chapter9: Earning Trust: Sokka and Suki**

**Everyone 10dASC**

**Dining Room **

The change that had come over the breakfast table was, to put it lightly, noticeably different.

Zuko had dropped his cool and unfriendly attitude, and was actually having a conversation with Tyren without the dirty looks.

Everyone knew why of course. The news that a new, mysterious, and interesting guest had bested the widely unliked General Jun had spread through the palace like wildfire.

People like Xu and other over excited spectators had not wasted a minute in letting everyone they knew around the palace of the story. Most everyone had been amazed as the servants informed them of the tenacity of the stranger, beating a seasoned general in Agni Kai without bending once.

Not everyone was incredibly impressed with the feat however. While Tyren's accomplishment had given him a new found respect from the other guests and guards, it had made Katara, if possible, even fiercer. She wasn't the only one, however.

Sokka and Suki didn't agree with Tyren flaunting around the palace as well. They had all made Tyren swear he wouldn't bend in front of people and they all thought instigating fights was not a good way to keep the promise.

Glancing around the table Aang felt like he was in no mans land.

_Guess I'm lucky it hasn't blown up already _he thought grimly. The clinking of plates and silverware were all anybody heard for awhile.

"So, Tyren," said Zuko, breaking the silence. His tone was much warmer. There was no hissing or stiffness like before.

"What are your plans for today?"

Tyren laughed. He seemed to laugh and smile a lot more lately. The prospect of having friends or even people that could stand him was lifting his spirits.

"I don't know. I don't suppose I could break up another war meeting could I?"

"I'd rather you not," Zuko chuckled. "I can't lose too many of my generals."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find something to do. I mean this is a castle," Tyren said gesturing around himself. "There must be something for me to do."

Zuko's eyes flashed to Katara. She, as she always did when Tyren spoke, had an ugly look on her face.

"Just try not to kill anybody," said Zuko quietly.

Tyren's eyes followed his eyes to Katara.

"I'll be nice," replied Tyren. The unpleasant silence fell over them again.

"So what does the Avatar do now that the war is over?" asked Tyren, making a brave stab at conversation.

"Oh….um…I actually have to join Zuko in the meeting today," said Aang.

"They need the Avatar to discuss trade routes?" asked Tyren with raised eyebrows.

"How did you know…?" asked Aang. Tyren's knowledge of things he shouldn't know was perplexing and frankly a little unnerving.

Tyren grinned and tapped his temple. "Your memories remember?"

"Right," murmured Aang as Zuko chuckled. To Zuko, Tyren was becoming a bit more of an interesting surprise than an annoyance. Tyren smiled warmly as well. Life with this group was getting better and better everyday.

He knew Aang wasn't too sure of him and neither were Sokka or Suki. But Zuko and Mai seemed to like him enough and even Toph seemed to be, at least, pleasant. They didn't hate him unconditionally like Katara, anyway.

"You know no one likes it when you do that," Katara snapped as though to prove Tyren's thought. "You have no right and it's very rude."

The grin was wiped of Tyren's face and his eyes flashed to Katara.

"Being so unpleasant is also considered very rude," he said coolly. Katara blinked in surprise.

Tyren had dealt with Katara's cool and unpleasant attitude as well as anyone could have. He had not once responded and had hid any annoyance well; until now. This was the first time Tyren had ever responded.

The whole table seemed to freeze. Aang's fork was still in-between his mouth and his plate. Everyone's mouths were agape looking from Katara to Tyren and back again.

Katara recovered from her shock glared angrily at Tyren. She forcefully stood up and stormed out of the room. Everyone watched her go, still too shocked to really move.

Tyren leaned back in his chair, eyes closed with a small frown on his face. Everyone's eyes flashed back to Tyren.

Everyone except Toph. She simply looked away from him, unsure if she should be disapproving or impressed. That scene had reminder her of the relationship she had with Sugar Queen when they first started traveling together. Toph hadn't taken any crap from her and was impressed Tyren hadn't taken any either, even if he was supposed to be all evil.

"I'll go talk to her," said Aang quietly, standing.

"Tell her I apologize," said Tyren, not opening his eyes. "That was not necessary."

Aang paused and nodded before turning and following Katara down the hall. The rest of the meal passed in silence.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Katara!" yelled Aang running down the hallway. She seemed to have moved faster than Aang thought because the hallway was empty.

"Katara? Where are you? Katara?"

Aang continued down the hallway looking for where she had run off to. He finally found her sitting in the same courtyard they had been in the day before they found Tyren.

She was sitting on the stone bench next to the pond, watching the turtle ducks waddle around. The little animals watched her with interest, quaking and hoping the stranger would throw them some food.

Aang walked over to the bench trying to figure out what he should do. Should he maybe get rid of Tyren? Should he tell her he was being stupid? How could he help her? He could only guess why she was always so angry.

"Could I sit down?" was all he asked lamely.

Katara nodded not looking up at him. They sat in silence for a while, doing nothing but watching the turtle ducks waddle around their ankles. After a few more uncomfortable minutes Aang tried again.

"Tyren apologizes for what happened," he said.

Katara laughed mirthlessly.

"Oh does he? Well you tell him to take his apology and shove it up his-,"

"Katara," cut in Aang. She lapsed into silence again. Aang was getting frustrated. He didn't know what he could do for her and by her attitude he didn't seem to have many choices to make her happy.

"Katara you have to talk to me," he pleaded, trying to hold back his anger.

"What's there to talk about Aang?" demanded Katara angrily. "You want to talk about why I'm so upset? Do you want to know why I don't trust Tyren? Or maybe you would like to know why I feel like a caged animal?" she finished her tirade, breathing heavily.

Aang was shocked. Never had Katara been like this. Or maybe once before when Zuko had fist joined but-. The realization dawned on Aang.

"It's just like Zuko all over again isn't it?" he said quietly.

Again Katara laughed a cool mirthless laugh that didn't belong to her.

"Worse. With Zuko there was that shred of hope. I had that tiny piece of forgiveness that had been inspired in me down in Be Sing Se. But you remember I wasn't happy with him around. Not at first anyway." she breathed in heavily again.

"But with Tyren….I don't know what it is. He just gives me the creeps, and I can't trust him. Not after the warning Roku gave. Not after what happened to us the last time I trusted somebody on a whim," Katara finished darkly.

Aang also remembered the painful memory of fighting in Be Sing Se. When he had seen Zuko there had been that shred of hope that just maybe the prince would help them. That was until the gleam in his eye had alerted Aang that he was an enemy instead of a friend.

"So that's why you refuse to trust Tyren?" Aang continued to prod gently.

"Yes. And just that picture of when we saw Tyren. I told you how my mother died, right? How I walked in on the killer. When he turned to me and told me to run along he had an evil gleam in his eye. Something that made him just look evil. Just like that I knew that Tyren was just like that man. Maybe even worse," her voice trailed off.

Aang put an arm around her.

"Hey," he said softly. "Look at me." She did and Aang got within centimeters of her face.

"I love you and I will never ever let anybody hurt you. Even if it is a scary shadowbender." Katara chuckled weakly.

"I know," she whispered and they kissed. When they broke apart Aang could still see all the hurt and turmoil in her eyes but she tried to put on a show that she was over it.

"You know you better hurry along. You're going to be late for your meeting," she said smiling.

"Uh, maybe I should just call in sick," groaned Aang. The meetings were killing him already. Katara smiled.

"Now, now that Avatar has his duties. Don't worry about me I'm going out today. I need to get away from….here," Aang saw her eyes flash down the hallway and Aang knew exactly what she wanted to really get away from.

"By yourself?" Aang asked.

"No, Toph, Mai, and Ty Lee decided to join me. They all were excited at the prospect of getting out of this place," said Katara.

"Alright…" said Aang.

"Hey you guys there you are," said Sokka, walking in with Suki. "You alright Katara?" he asked his sister.

"Yeah I'm fine Sokka," she said.

"We were worried about you," said Suki softly.

"Don't sweat it I'm over it," assured Katara.

Sokka shrugged. "Alright, if you're sure." He turned to Aang. "Zuko's waiting for you, he says you better hurry or you'll be late."

"You better hurry too Katara, Toph was treating to leave you here," said Suki.

"Alright we'll get going," sighed Aang. What was with everyone ruining his and Katara's moments? He turned and gave Katara a hug.

"Have fun," he whispered.

"I will," she replied and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Alright keep it moving," said Sokka loudly.

"Sokka!" snipped Suki hitting Sokka in the back of the head.

"What? She's my sister," Sokka defended. Aang and Katara just laughed and left to go do their separate activates.

Sokka and Suki, however, stayed behind.

"Alright now Sokka just because the war is over doesn't mean you get out of sparing," chided Suki.

Sokka put on an insulted face. "What, you think I need practice?"

"If you're as good as you were last time we sparred then yes, yes I do," Suki laughed.

"Sorry I don't consider beating up a girl to be good practice," said Sokka.

Suki's eyes shone with the prospect of that challenge.

"Oh, you are so going to wish you hadn't said that," she smirked pulling out her twin metal fans.

"Who's going to make me? You?" chuckled Sokka. He drew his replacement sword. After losing his space sword he had picked up a new one but it wasn't nearly as comfortable. He kept meaning to go and find it and his lost boomerang but he hadn't yet.

"It is so on," said Suki. She took her stance.

"Bring it!" yelled Sokka, taking his.

The two fighters moved with amazing speed toward each other. Sokka's first few lunges were easily blocked by Suki's fans and when he went for a strong spinning swipe, she easily spun the opposite direction, giving herself some space.

"What's the matter Sokka? Am I moving to fast for you?" she laughed.

She began her assault by moving in close to Sokka where his broadsword would have trouble reaching. She first tried to jab Sokka in the nose with her fan but he managed to lean back far enough it passed right over him. Then with some quick maneuvering he brought up his sword to block the second fan that had quickly followed the first.

While Sokka managed to hold off Suki's weapon he forgot about her feet. She positioned them behind Sokka and gave a mighty heave.

Not seeing where Suki's feet were Sokka lost his footing and landed hard on his back.

"You defiantly need more training," laughed Suki.

"Hey we aren't done yet," said Sokka and he used the flat side of his sword to entangle her feet as well.

Both warriors clambered to their feet and again struck their respective stances. The rest of the fight was just as fierce. There were very many close calls and both warriors found themselves on their backs looking up at the other. But they somehow always managed to regain their footing and the battle went on.

There also were some very close calls with the weapons. Twice Sokka's sword almost accidently nicked Suki and once the hilt hit slammed into her when Sokka had made a quick turn. Sokka had been hit just as well by Suki's fans, three times letting them tear his practice cloths and once getting hit awfully hard behind the ear with one.

After half an hour the battle still hadn't reached its close and both Sokka and Suki were out of breath. They stood there, not bothering to take stances anymore, breathing heavily.

"Not bad I must admit," gasped Suki.

"Not bad either…for a girl," chuckled Sokka but the chuckle quickly turned into a cough.

They again moved in on each other with all the speed they could get out of their bodies and each mad one more forceful stab at victory. When they each froze however there was no winner. Both of Suki's fans were pointed at Sokka's temples but Sokka's sword was pointed upward toward Suki's belly.

"Draw?" asked Suki.

"Draw," gasped Sokka and they let their weapons clatter to the ground. The laughed and hugged each other but were interrupted by some clapping from behind them.

"Most impressive," said Tyren smiling.

Sokka and Suki whipped around in surprise.

"Oh its you…," said Sokka.

"Not happy to see me?" asked Tyren pleasantly.

"No, no, just surprised," said Suki quickly. Tyren laughed again.

"Well I apologize for surprising you but I couldn't help but watch. Do you two normally draw?"

"No," smiled Suki. "I usually kick his butt in half the time."

"You do not," yelled Sokka.

"Well either way you two are defiantly masters at your art," smiled Tyren.

"Thanks," said Suki awkwardly. She still wasn't too sure about Tyren but here they were, talking about their weapons and combat skills with him.

"Do you fight? With weapons I mean?" asked Sokka.

"Well truthfully I don't know," said Tyren shrugging. "But I bet if I picked up the right one I would know how to use it. Maybe it's just some skill lying dormant."

"Would you like to find it?" asked Suki. Sokka looked at her quizzically but didn't object.

"You want to? With me?" asked Tyren.

"Sure it'll give me a chance to get you back," grinned Suki. "No bending, no powers, no magic or anything like that. Just you, your weapon, and your skills."

Tyren returned her grin. "I'd like that a lot actually."

"Let's start out with my sword," said Sokka handing it to Tyren. "It's called a broadsword. You can really hold it two or one handed but you need to be careful. It can kill you just as easy as it kills your opponent. This ringing any bells?"

Tyren shook his head taking the sword. "No but I guess we'll see."

He took a slightly awkward stance, the sword at his side and pointed at the ground. Sokka shook his head. He was going to be beat too easily.

Suki obviously thought so too because she grinned widely and jumped at Tyren. If there was one thing she should have learned it was expect the unexpected from Tyren.

Tyren effortlessly lifted the broadsword to protect his head and followed with a quick hip bump to knock Suki back.

"You alright," he asked.

"It's a sparring session I'm giving you permission to beat my brains in, don't ask if I'm ok," she snapped and began her assault again.

They were pretty evenly matched at first. Tyren's large strength and slight speed superiority were making up for his weakness in technique and skill. Skill however won the match as Suki managed to disarm Tyren and get the kill blow to the temple again.

"Not bad for somebody who just picked up a broadsword," said Suki breathing heavily. Tyren was also worn out but was controlling his breathing a little better.

"Thank you," he said taking deep controlled breaths.

"Alright now it's defiantly my turn," said Sokka excitedly taking his position across from Tyren.

"Try using my fans now," said Suki handing them to Tyren. Tyren looked them over them incredulously, accidently opening one.

"Thanks," he muttered.

The battle was much like the last one, though Tyren's speed with the fans was what was more apparent than his strength. He was forced to get in much closer to Sokka were he got in quick punches with the fans but none would have been fatal. Finally, once again, skill won out as Tyren was beaten with Sokka's sword centimeters from his neck.

"Yes, winner!" yelled Sokka pumping his fist.

"Sokka," said Suki, but Tyren laughed.

"It's alright. I know you must love getting to stick it to a bender whenever you can."

"Well…it is kind of nice," admitted Suki. All three of them laughed.

The lessons continued as they tried to find the weapon for Tyren. Really there wasn't one that he couldn't have used with some minor critiquing but some were obviously better than others. For instance he really despised the heavy earth kingdom hammers and small darts (borrowed from Mai's room) but enjoyed the staffs and the swords. But now matter how well he fought with them nothing really felt perfect, like it was made for his hands.

"Maybe you just don't have a weapon," said Suki resting after an intense fight with Tyren and his wooden staff.

"Maybe," said Tyren throwing down the staff. Just then he noticed a guard passing by. There was a whip on his belt and Tyren figured why not.

"Hey you," yelled Tyren. "Hold up a second." The guard seemed to freeze when he recognized who Tyren was.

"Aren't you that guy…?" he gasped.

"Yeah I am and I was wondering if I could borrow you whip?" asked Tyren.

"Wow _my _whip. Oh wow sure it would be an honor," he said unclipping it.

"Thanks," said Tyren turning back towards the other two.

"Any time," said the awestruck guard.

"A whip?" asked an incredulous Sokka. "You want to fight with a whip?"

"Oh come on," pleaded Tyren. "What's it going to hurt we've tried everything else."

"True," muttered Sokka. "Fine one more."

The two fighters took their respective places, facing each other. Suki noticed that Tyren did look much more comfortable with the whip than any other weapon she'd seen him with.

Sokka charged first, trying to bridge the distance between him and Tyren as quick as possible. Tyren just rolled out of the way and caught Sokka around his ankles. Sokka hit the dust and Tyren began reeling him in.

Flailing about, Sokka managed to get the whip off of his ankles and regained his footing. Tyren pulled the whip back and waited for the next move. Sokka was a bit more cautious this time but inevitably decided to try and close the gap again.

This time when Tyren flicked his whip at him, Sokka let it wrap around his sword and yanked. Tyren allowed himself to be pulled along and dodged Sokka's downward stroke. While he tried to recover with his sword Tyren wrapped his whip around Sokka's hands and pushed him back. The force caused the whip to tighten around Sokka's wrists and he dropped his sword in pain and surprise.

There was no sound for a few seconds.

"He wins I think," Suki finally giggled.

"I think I found my weapon," said Tyren lightly trying not to laugh at the look on Sokka's face. "Or at least I think its pretty close."

"Maybe that's why we couldn't find your weapon sooner," said Suki. "You're a soft weapon fighter. Strange but not unheard of."

Sokka finally got the whip off from around his wrists.

"Best two out of three," demanded Sokka. Tyren grinned at the challenge.

The three of them skipped right over lunch and trained together until supper.

_Another two down. Tyren's fan club looks like it's getting a little bigger. Now only if Katara would stop hating on him. Wonder if he'll get her? Mmmmm….. Hope you enjoyed it. R&R. _


	10. Earning Trust: Aang

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**Chapter10: Earning Trust: Aang**

**Aang 12dASC**

**Palace Rooms **

Aang snapped up out of bed.

He was breathing heavily, his heart still racing after the nightmare he had just had. He put his head in his hands, trying to remember what the dream had been about.

He had been in a forest. It had been a strange forest, like something had been added to it. Aang pushed his palms into his eyes to try and visualize the place again.

It was pitch black. He hadn't been able to see anything besides the giant trees around him. And someone had been calling to him. Who had it been?

_Katara _he thought breathing deep. Katara was the one that had called to him.

He had tried to run after her, but he didn't know where to look. He had just started running, crying out to Katara, hoping she wasn't being hurt.

He had run out of the forest and into a clearing. That was were the nightmare had really begun. Katara was lying on the ground crying out, trying to get to her feet. Mai and Suki were close to her, lying unconscious.

There was also a black shape there. He was hunched over something and seemed to be laughing softly to himself. When he stood up, Zuko fell to the ground, blood trickling from his mouth, staring blankly at the sky.

"NOOOOOOO!" Aang remembered yelling.

The figure spun around and threw out his hands. Aang got a good look at this face. His face…

What had his face looked like? Aang pushed his eyes deeper into his head, trying to see if he could remember how that face had looked. He couldn't remember though.

Every time he tried to focus on the details they seemed to slip farther and farther away from him.

He gave up trying to remember and walked over to his window.

It was twilight, the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. The stars still littered the sky in certain spots and the moon still shone. It was an amazing sight, watching the sun rise, pushing back the starts and outshining the moon. But it was even more beautiful to watch all three light up the sky.

He breathed in deep again and felt the wind against his face. It was going to rain soon, he could smell it. Some rain would be welcome to break the Fire Nations warm summers.

That's when he noticed the other figure standing in the guardian below him.

He could tell it was Tyren from his jet black hair. He was standing, also facing the wind looking with wonderment at the sky. If waterbenders were strong with the moon and firebenders were strong with the sun, when were shadowbenders strongest?

These were some of the strange thoughts Aang seemed to have when he thought about Tyren.

He wasn't afraid of him like Katara was but he wasn't as friendly as Zuko, Mai, and now, Sokka, and Suki were. He was simply curious.

As though his thought had tapped Tyren's shoulder he looked up and saw Aang standing over the edge of the balcony.

"Beautiful isn't it," he called quietly so not to wake anyone up.

"Yeah…it's really nice," said Aang awkwardly. He never really knew what to say to Tyren. It was just like when Zuko just join the group; awkward moments, not knowing what to say to him, the fact that he never really felt like part of the group. It was like a bad case of déjà vu.

Tyren motioned for Aang to join him. Aang thought for a minute. If Sokka, Suki, and Zuko could trust him after a talk why couldn't Aang.

Aang jumped down and landed lightly next to Tyren.

"You wake up early normally don't you? To meditate?" asked Tyren.

"Yeah I do. I just get it over with," said Aang.

"Well I hope you don't mind if I join you. I've always loved this time of day," said Tyren taking a seat.

He put his hands on his knees and began breathing deeply, letting his eyes close. Aang followed his lead and took his stance, hands pressed together.

They sat in silence, breathing in the cool air and letting their minds wander. Aang felt more comfortable than he ever had before around Tyren. Aang couldn't help but feel better whenever he meditated.

"Aang can I ask you something?" asked Tyren, breaking the silence.

"Sure. What is it?" replied Aang, not opening his eyes.

"Why does Katara hate me so much?" he asked quietly.

This made Aang's eyes snap open. Tyren's were also open and he was watching the stars continue to blink out as the sun took up the sky.

"Well…," Aang wasn't really sure of how to answer that.

"I know about the warning from Avatar Roku, but….," Tyren didn't seem to know what to say. "I don't know why she thinks I'm such a monster."

Again Aang didn't know how to answer this. He felt like he should be honest with Tyren. But it was Katara's feelings. She wasn't making much of an effort to hide them though.

"Well it's about her mother…," said Aang deciding to be at least a little honest. "She was just really shaken up when she saw you. You seemed to remind her of how her mother's killer looked…right before he did it." There were a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"I just wish she didn't think I was some kind of monster. I don't want to be that thing that hides in the darkness…I don't wanna be a nightmare," said Tyren quietly.

Aang was starting to feel like he was going to be no help with this conversation.

"Sorry to ask you about it," said Tyren, standing. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"Alright. Sorry I wasn't much help," said Aang.

Tyren just smiled softly and entered the palace.

Aang turned back to the rising sun. He actually felt a little bad for Tyren.

Everyone had assumed he was something to fear; something that needed to be exterminated and stopped. They really had treated him just like a monster.

But they had been warned. Avatar Roku had shown him what would happen if they didn't stop this guy. Avatar Roku had warned them….

_That's it _thought Aang.

Avatar Roku was the one who had warned them, he was probably the one to ask about Tyren.

Aang resumed his meditative position and his breathing deep and methodical. He felt the familiar feeling of rushing backwards at high speeds and when he opened his eyes he was in the spirit world.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Spirit World**

**Aang**

Aang stood and looked around the Spirit World. The Fire Nation in the Spirit World had the entire splendor of its buildings but without all the people. It would be the perfect place to be alone.

Aang walked around for a little while, examining the empty buildings and surrounding areas. When he got to the beach he sat down and waited for Avatar Roku.

Aang never really called him, he just showed up like he knew when Aang wanted to talk to him.

He was not disappointed as the old Avatar appeared sitting across from him.

"Hello Aang," he said in his quite voice.

"Avatar Roku," Aang returned the greeting.

"You have a lot of questions for me don't you?" asked Roku.

"Where do I start Roku? I'm really confused," admitted Aang. He wasn't sure how he felt about Tyren anymore. He was supposed to be wary of him so he wouldn't let him destroy life as they all knew it but just this morning he had had a perfectly normal time with the guy.

"Start at the beginning I find that works best," chuckled Roku.

"Well to start I don't know if Tyren's such a bad guy," said Aang. Roku raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Even though you warned us all against him, but he seems to be trying to make up for anything he's done. Zuko likes him and so do Sokka and Suki. I mean, do should we really just lock him up?" asked Aang desperate to hear someone say he hadn't made a bad choice by allowing Tyren to remain free.

Roku waited a while before answering.

"Yes Aang I warned you against this man for a reason. I don't think that you weren't reasonable in the way you thought of Tyren," said Roku quickly, seeing the look on Aang's face. "Looking for the good in people is a welcome virtue. But there are those who would use that against you." Roku looked closely into Aang's eyes.

"Remember what Avatar Kuruk told you. You must actively shape your own destiny," said Roku. Aang felt a little better as he remembered the old Avatar's words.

"But don't forget what I told you as well," said Roku sharply. "You must be decisive and can not allow this…Tyren to destroy all you have worked for."

Aang's face fell again.

"Come, Aang," said Roku, standing up. "I would like to show you something."

They walked in to the ocean ad stopped when it got to about waist height.

"What are you showing me?" asked a confused Aang.

"Look at the water Aang," commanded Roku.

Aang did so and saw little bubbles rising to the surface. They slowly broke the surface of the water and rose to about eye height.

He saw that the bubble was not translucent, but seemed to glow and show people moving inside them.

"What are these?" asked Aang awestruck.

"These are the future. Everyone's future depends on them staying on a certain path. When someone strays off what they were originally doing…," he paused as a bubble popped. "The future changes," he finished.

Aang continued to watch the bubbles mesmerized. Most rose around him and stayed up but every now and then a bubble would pop and a new one would rise.

"The one I want to show you," said Avatar Roku, handing Aang a bubble. "Is yours."

Aang took the bubble. It felt warm and like it had a tiny heartbeat. Then before their eyes it expanded until it took up all the space in front of him.

It showed Aang in a strange place. It was heavily shadowed and looked to be surrounded by trees. With a shock Aang realized this was the place that he had dreamed about.

"I've seen this place," he cried. Roku nodded.

"You are the Avatar. You are more in touch with the future than anyone else in the real world. Sometimes the future may reveal itself to you."

The bubble continued to play out. Aang was running towards a clearing. When he reached it there were Mai, Katara, Suki, and the black figure all hunched around. Zuko was fighting him with all his power but he was obviously outmatched by the figure. What was more the figure seemed to be bending shadows.

The future Aang jumped in to assist the losing Fire Lord and the figure began holding them both off. It was complete chaos to watch. Shadows lashed out followed by fire, water, earth, and air. Before too long the clearing had the battle scars of a thousand battles.

The future Aang and Zuko stood looking desperate as the black figure lashed out again. As the real Aang yelled out a pointless warning six other bubbles grouped together. When the shadow attack hit the future Aang and Zuko all seven bubbles that were in front of Aang popped.

Aang stared quietly at the spot were the future bubbles had once floated, a feeling of dread creeping up around his belly.

"Where's Tyren's bubble," he finally asked quietly.

As if someone had heard his request a lone bubble floated into Aang's hand. He looked at it and was surprised to see it was simply black. After a closer look Aang saw the bubble wasn't black, it was just filled with shadows.

"No one knows Tyren's future. Or even what his future could be. This is why it was so important to warn you. An enemy you can not guess like Tyren is the worst type of enemy." said Roku.

"So you're saying I should lock him up," said Aang quietly.

"Let's just say I've never heard of a shadowbender before, and I am very worried that this could turn ugly," said Roku.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Tyren**

**Palace Garden **

While Aang talked with Roku Tyren had gotten his food and drink.

He sat back down next to Aang and began eating silently.

"Aang, I'm sorry if you think I can't be trusted," he said slowly. Aang didn't' respond.

"But I'm not a monster. I hope you can believe me." Again Aang made no response.

"Aang?" Tyren said frowning. Aang had never full out ignored him before.

"Aang, are you alright?" asked Tyren as he tapped him on his shoulder. Tyren felt a jerk around his naval the minute his hand hit Aang's shoulder and felt like he was streaking backward. The feeling made him feel sick and he closed his eyes. What had happened?

When he opened his eyes he wasn't sure were he was. It seemed to be the Fire Nation but it didn't have any people. How had he gotten out of the palace? Tyren wasn't sure he could take any more shadowbending surprises.

"Hello," he bellowed. No one answered. He didn't even see anyone move as though they heard him. The shadows were surprisingly quiet. They hadn't completely stopped but something had made them to lower their voices so much it seemed like they had stopped.

Tyren shrugged and just started walking down the street. He was starting to get used to surprises and decided he would just roll with this one.

It was nice getting to walk the street. Or at least they seemed like the streets. Tyren knew from watching them from the palace that they were usually much more crowded. Still it gave him at least a small feeling of being normal.

The street eventually ran out and he found himself on a long stretch of beach. Nothing else seemed to occupy the beach and Tyren started worrying that maybe he was permanent limbo.

That's when he noticed a large tree in the middle of the beach. It really had no reason to be there in the middle of a Fire Nation beach. It was a giant knobby tree that looked like it had dropped out of a forest and seemed to rise up forever.

He cautiously began moving towards it. The tree seemed to call out to him. It was like an intoxicating sent was coming from it and was drawing him closer and closer.

Tyren knew this tree. He couldn't remember were from but he felt like he had seen in somewhere before. He drew closer and could smell the dampness coming from it.

_What unsightly thing lives down there _thought Tyren. Even the shadows around him seemed to be hissing in annoyance…or were they hissing in fear?

He glanced around the tree. The roots made it look like it had a thousand large legs and towered over Tyren. The tree defiantly had a life of its own.

Tyren drew nearer to the base and saw a small opening. There seemed to be something down there, breathing in like it was trying to suck Tyren down with it. And the strange thing was that Tyren wasn't scared, but interested in what lived down there.

"Who lives down there," he muttered.

"Koh….," hissed the shadows. They seemed to cringe at the name.

"Koh," muttered Tyren. Well that explained why he thought he had seen the tree before. Aang had visited Koh once.

Tyren knew he should probably turn away and leave the spirit alone, but he also had Aang's memory of Roku telling him that Koh was one of the oldest spirits. The spirit that had lived through centuries and knew almost anything; that could possibly help him.

Tyren took a deep breath and remembered some advice given about Koh.

_Show no emotion_

Tyren's working to make his face as impassive as he could he entered the lair of Koh, The Face Stealer.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Aang, Roku**

**Spirit World Ocean**

Aang and Roku hadn't moved. They stood there, waist deep in the ocean, looking for someway to change the future.

"I don't think I could live with myself knowing I locked up a possibly innocent person," said Aang dully. "Maybe the bubbles show this picture because we try and lock him up and then he tries to get revenge."

"You are always one to look on the bright side," said Roku smiling softly. "And you maybe right. But I don't think not locking him up will save you from the future."

Suddenly Roku stiffened and looked around.

"Did you bring along anyone else?" he demanded. Aang shook his head in confusion.

"No, I've never brought anyone with me into the Spirit World."

"Well something happened. This is not good," said Roku, very stressed.

"What happened?" asked Aang turning to the beach.

They both stopped dead. Jutting out of the beach was a giant tree. Aang had seen it before and had hoped to never have to see it again.

It was the tree of Koh, The Face Stealer.

Tyren looked around the small cavern. There didn't see to be anybody in the room but it was so dark he couldn't be sure.

The shadows in this room were even strange. They whispered differently than the other ones.

Instead of a bunch of soft jumbled whispering they spoke in one continues whisper.

"Run…..," they whispered. It was impossible to miss the urgency in their voices.

"Run…," they repeated. The voices seemed to bounce off the walls and sound twice as loud as normal.

Tyren closed his eyes to shut them out. After a short while they did and he opened his eyes.

Koh was centimeters from his face. He had the white face of a masquerade mask and was smiling softly. Tyren however kept his unimpressed domineer and just blinked.

"Impressive," chuckled The Face Stealer. "That has always worked before."

"I doubt you have ever met someone like me before," said Tyren quietly. Koh glanced again at him.

"You think I don't know who you are?" he asked softly.

"I think you just found out," said Tyren.

"And what makes you think that I don't already know more than you do about yourself?" hissed Koh.

"Because you would have already used it to against me," replied Tyren calmly. Koh frowned.

"You seem very well informed. I wonder how you know what I'm going to do to you." Koh asked twisting around Tyren.

"I have the Avatar's memories," said Tyren quietly. "It's easy from those to tell what you want do to me."

"Now is that fair? The Avatars have such a biased view about me," Koh seemed to be pouting.

Tyren made no response.

"Why are you really here shadowbender?" asked Koh.

"For that reason; I want to know what you do about shadowbending," said Tyren.

Koh chuckled. "But I think you already fear the answer to that question. Well your fears tell you the truth. I know nothing of shadowbending."

He bent close to Tyren's face to make sure no flicker of emotion passed. Koh blinked and a beautiful women's face looked at him.

"You've never seen it before?" asked Tyren impassively.

"Never," said Koh's voice from the woman's face. "Controlling the shadows was an old Spirits way of contacting the real world before you're…Avatar came to be."

"So only the Spirits know of it?" asked Tyren.

Koh laughed. "But you see it's been so long since we have ever had to use it that even I don't remember how to do it."

Tyren's eyes flashed and Koh was within a centimeter of his face again.

"Oh, you are just teeming with emotion," he hissed as his face turned to an old man's face. "But you refuse to let it surface. I wonder why you do not let your true self take over."

Before Tyren could answer footsteps came behind him.

"Tyren, how did you get in here?" asked Aang. He too had a blank look on his face and kept it as Koh jumped at him, entwining around him and getting close to his face.

"Ah, the Avatar has graced me with this presence once again," he hissed.

"I'm simply here for my friend," said Aang.

"I was just leaving," said Tyren softly.

Koh blinked and an angry blue face took the old man's place.

"What, you wish to leave so soon?" he snapped.

Tyren and Aang turned to walk away.

"You will not be able to hide from me forever. You will come back to me shadowbender because I am the only one who can help you. I, who has lived for centuries and alone can help you piece together your past!" said Koh.

Tyren stopped and looked back at The Face Stealer.

"But there are more than you," he said quietly.

Koh's eyes widened and his face turned back to the original white.

"Good luck shadowbender. You will need it," hissed Koh and he disappeared into the shadows.

"What were you thinking!" demanded Aang when they were safely away from Koh's tree.

"I was thinking I could learn something about my past," said Tyren calmly. He was going over all that Koh had told him. The Face Stealer claimed he didn't know anything about the art of shadowbending, but…had he been lying? And the shadows had told him a different Spirit could help him. But who?

"So you go to KOH?" yelled Aang. "The trickiest and one of the deadliest of all the Spirits; do you want to die?"

"I deserve to know about my past and I will do what I can to rediscover it," said Tyren sharply, rounding on Aang. "You did the same thing when you first woke from the iceberg. You have no right to be upset with what I did."

Aang looked into Tyren's eyes. He saw the pain and anger Koh had inflicted by not helping him.

Tyren sighed. "Look I'm sorry. But I need to know where I came from; who I was. You can understand that right?"

Aang thought about his past. How he had needed know what happened to the monks and to his home. But he also remembered those bubbles of the future he had seen; an evil like Tyren destroying him and his friends.

Aang nodded. "I can understand that. But what if you find what you're looking for and it's not good?"

Tyren looked away.

"How did you get here?" asked Aang.

"I touched you," muttered Tyren. "I must've jumped the bridge to here when I touched you."

"Well let's go home," said Aang. "Before something else happens."

Tyren shrugged.

"Hold on tight. I would rather not leave you here in the Spirit World," said Aang. Tyren chuckled and clutched Aang's shoulder. Aang closed his eyes, concentrated, and felt the familiar feeling of flying again. When he opened his eyes they were back in the palace garden.

"That was a little strange," said Tyren shaking his head.

"Yeah it does take for some getting used too," chuckled Aang. Tyren looked back up at the sky. It was now completely sun lit.

"I just wish I would have found something," he said bitterly.

"C'mon," said Aang putting a hand on Tyren's shoulder. "Let's go get something to eat."

Tyren laughed sourly. "I thought you were afraid of me?"

"Nah, I think I've learned something. You're not that different from me. Just a guy who woke up in a strange new world and now he's looking for his past," said Aang smiling.

Tyren chuckled.

_What is with these people? _Tyren thought as he walked inside the palace side by side with the Avatar.

_Alright slow chapter I admit it. Got a little Spirit World Action in there, had some smack talk with Koh. Could be worse. You really smart people who know your Spirits might be able to guess which one's Tyren was talking about. Everyone else you're going to have to wait. R&R! _


	11. Earning Trust: Katara

_Alright I'm going to apologize again. These last few chapters might be really slow but they are necessary. Thanks for sticking with them._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**Chapter11: Earning Trust: Katara**

**Everyone 15dASC**

**Palace Indoor Training Room**

Aang breathed in heavily.

Zuko, Mai, Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph sat around the edges of the room. In the middle was a picture right out of a war zone.

Rocks and earth were littered around, disturbed and shifted abnormally. Water stains were all over and on the ceiling ice picks dripped slowly. Scorch marks littered the circle and in one spot a small fire still crackled. Craters were everywhere on the floor and ceiling.

To complete the picture was Aang, hands on his knees, huffing and sweat dripping off his body. His ratty sparring closes were ripped, torn, and sticking to his body from the amount he was sweating.

Opposite of him was Tyren. He was standing confidently up, his hands still at the ready. A light layer of sweat covered his body and he breathed in slow and methodical. His clothes, still the black ninja like tunic, were untouched besides some dust clinging to them.

"Come now Aang," said Tyren cockily. "You aren't about to give up on me already are you?"

Aang grinned. "Not…on you're…life," he heaved and took a solid earthbending stance.

Tyren grinned and took his primary stance. After using is against Jun he had found that he was comfortable with it and had adopted it for his shadowbending.

Aang struck first with a boulder from the ceiling, trying to catch Tyren off guard. He thought he was successful when the boulder crashed down but was disappointed when Tyren walked out of the boulder.

The sparing sessions had alerted Tyren to many powers he hadn't been aware of before, including a limited amount of intangibility.

"You know that really isn't fair," Aang frowned.

Tyren laughed. "All is fair in love and war," and began his own assault.

He made quick chopping motions to send small shadows streaking towards Aang. Aang bent small rock shields up to take the attack and back stepped quickly.

Tyren continued to press the advantage, pulling shadows down off the ceiling and began shooting them at Aang.

The Avatar countered by shooting balls of fire at the attacks, holding them off. When they started to come faster and faster Aang took a deep breath and blew out, causing the shadows to fall back and Tyren to be blown off his feet.

The shadowbender simply landed lightly on his feet, laughing.

"Come on now Aang you know that doesn't work on me."

"Break," gasped Aang.

"Fine," pouted Tyren and the two bowed to each other. Aang collapsed onto the floor.

"Why is it you always have to call break?" said Tyren grabbing a water pouch.

"Because I'm the one that always needs it," said Aang. Everyone laughed.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you losers but I want a rematch," said Toph standing up.

"Rematch?" asked Zuko. "What rematch?"

"I think it should be all of us vs. tall, dark, and cocky," smirked Toph.

Tyren chuckled. "Didn't you beat me last time?"

"Yeah but we still got our butts handed to us. I want a rematch!"

"Alright," said Tyren still chuckling. 'Who's in?"

"I'm defiantly in," said Sokka grabbing his sword.

"Why not," said Suki joining him.

"I'm in," said Zuko. "Mai?"

"Sure why not," said Mai.

"Katara?" asked Tyren kindly.

Katara glared at him and then looked back at the others.

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on Sugar Queen," said Toph. "It will let you get back at him," she added quietly.

"Come on, it'll be fun," encouraged Suki.

Katara's eyes flashed back to Tyren's smiling face. Her eyes hardened.

"Fine," she said curtly.

"And your defiantly in Twinkle Toes you don't have a choice," said Toph.

The seven of them stood on one side opposite of Tyren much like they had when they first met.

Tyren grinned and took his stance.

"The odds really don't seem to be in my favor do they?"

"No," smiled Toph and they began.

The seven of them worked more as a team this time around.

Zuko, Aang, and Katara all protected Mai, Sokka, Suki, and Toph, who still couldn't see Tyren's attacks. They slowly moved forward, trying to get some ground on Tyren early.

Tyren began using a mixed attack. He would use strong arm motions to send columns of shadows at the tightly packed group and short, stiff kicks to send small amounts at their feet.

The strong defense from the gang and the relentless attack from Tyren invoked another standoff.

Before too long, however, Tyren made a jab at breaking up the protective bubble.

He slid in close to the gang and launched an assault at their legs. While everyone shifted to protect their feet, Tyren launched himself into the air and slammed the shadows down from above.

Unable to get their hands up in time everyone jumped and scattered out of the way. Tyren zeroed in on Toph and tackled her down. A few inches from Toph's face Tyren could feel her breath on his face.

"Dead," he said making a fake chop to Toph's throat.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," grumbled Toph, "Get off." She walked over to the sidelines, "Cheater."

Tyren turned to the rest of the gang. They were all spaced out and turning to meet Tyren. He just grinned however and made walls around each person, cutting them away from the others. Then he closed his eyes and listened to the shadows.

When he heard them say someone was going to try to knock down the wall he jumped to that wall.

It turned out it was Zuko who had tried to knock it down first. Tyren caught his flaming fist in shadows and then made a similar chopping motion to Zuko.

"Dead," he said. Zuko joined Toph on the sidelines, grumbling to himself.

Tyren turned back around quickly and bent the walls again. Sokka, Suki, and Mai were suddenly pushed to Tyren's side while Aang and Katara were still stuck behind the wall of shadows.

Never one to waist time Mai shot three knifes at Tyren, who easily blocked them. Mai tried to jump out Tyren's range but was caught in midair by a tendril.

"Dead," Tyren said placing her lightly next to Zuko.

Sokka and Suki came running at Tyren but stood no chance against the shadowbender. He ducked both of their attacks and caught them by their throats when they passed over him.

"Dead and dead," he said, grinning.

Tyren turned his attention back to the shadow wall. Before he could do any other trickery, however, the wall was blown apart by a fire blast from Aang.

Tyren whistled in surprise. "Man I could feel the heat coming off that one," he said. Aang looked with surprise at the cluster of people off on the sidelines.

"Did you knock all of them out already?" he asked.

"Yeah it was pretty easy," Tyren said grinning again.

"Hey!" protested Toph. "You cheated!" Tyren just chuckled and took his stance facing Aang and Katara.

Aang stood with his hands ready, a look of complete concentration on his face. Katara stood next to him, her face still lined with anger, with water covering her arms in an offensive stance. A few more seconds passed and none of the fighters dared to move.

Then Katara lashed out with a huge jet of water. Changing to a stance Tyren had seen Katara use, he brought the shadows around him like many tentacles. When the jet reached him the shadow tentacles knocked the water away.

Katara's eyes widened in surprise at the waterbending technique; she hadn't known he could use it. Tyren just grinned and waited for the next attack, looking like a giant black octopus.

Aang and Katara began attacking again, desperately trying to find someway around Tyren's defense. But Tyren didn't seem to have any holes in his defense.

Every time an attack came close to him the tentacles knocked it away with apparent ease. When Aang and Katara paused to catch their breath Tyren launched a powerful attack. The tentacles combined into two giant ones and streaked towards Katara and Aang.

Katara quickly skidded backwards on a thin sheet of ice as the two columns crashed into the floor. The force of it knocked Katara down and sent a cloud of dust into the air.

When it cleared Aang was no were to be seen. Tyren frowned and looked around in confusion.

"Where did he…" he muttered. He stopped and his eyes widened.

He spun and punched down with both of his fists just as Aang came out of the ground with his fists blazing with flame. The resulting collision sent even more smoke than before and rocked the entire room.

When the smoke cleared Aang and Tyren were both in craters on the opposite side of the room.

"Well that was fun," said Tyren trying to stand. He was a little punch drunk and stumbled on his way out of his crater. Aang just stayed in his crater, trying to stop the room from spinning.

Katara who was staring in wide eyed shock at the crater Aang was in, turned furiously on Tyren.

"Are you trying to kill him!? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Hey I didn't know that would happen," defended Tyren. He shook his head again and took his stance still woozy. Katara's eyes narrowed in fury and she began a furious attack.

Tyren, for the first time, was caught completely off guard by the ferocity of her assault. He was barely getting his hands up in time to block the water. More than once the attacks came so fast that Tyren had to dodge because he couldn't bend to block it in time. The assault kept coming and kept coming. Everyone in the room was watching in shocked silence as Katara's fury started to gain ground against Tyren.

"Holy-," began Tyren but was cut off when he had to jump out of the way of another attack. The water made a deep gash in the wall behind Tyren.

"Katara," warned Sokka. She didn't pay any attention to him and continued focusing on Tyren. All her fears and anger was pouring out into a furious bending assault. Finally she got a few hit on Tyren. The water hit Tyren in the lower gut first and then came up furiously, hitting his jaw and causing him to see stars. With the same ferocity she brought it back down onto his head.

Staggering back up to his feet Tyren blinked quickly, trying to clear his vision. Katara kept going however and sent an array of deadly ice spikes hurtling at Tyren.

Still unable to see clearly Tyren's defensive shield was off. He blocked the kill blows but one snuck past and went strait into his arm.

He screamed in pain and his body tensed up causing the shadows in the room to rear up, as though mirroring his pain. Katara seemed too out of it to stop. She no longer saw a tired Tyren, holding an ice pick in his bleeding arm. She no longer saw her friends around her, watching her in horror. She saw her mother's killer. She saw him standing there and her mother crying for help off to the side. She would save her mother. She would stop the killer.

"Enough!" yelled Tyren. He blocked the wave of water coming at him and pinned Katara to the wall with one arm. He was breathing heavily and shaking his head like he was trying to get rid of an annoying mosquito.

"That's enough," he said again, a little softer. The look on Katara's face was murderous. Tyren slowly let her down. Everyone looked at Katara warily, hoping she wouldn't freak out again and start attacking them. She looked at Tyren again, bit her lip and frustration, and stormed out of the training room.

"Katara wait!" yelled Aang moving to follow her.

"Stop," said Tyren. Aang looked back at him in confusion.

"Let me try and talk to her," asked Tyren.

"Do you think that's such a good idea seeing as she just…?" Toph stopped lightly touching the ice pick still in Tyren's arm. Tyren twitched away from her touch and took the pick in his other hand. With a low moan of pain he ripped it out of his arm. He quickly took a towel and wrapped it around his arm.

"Let me try. Please Aang," he asked again.

Aang looked at him. Did he really think he could talk to Katara? Especially since she obviously hated him so; maybe he could though. Tyren was known for doing the unthinkable.

"Alright," he yielded. Tyren nodded in thanks. He picked up the discarded ice pick and ran after Katara.

He found her in her room balcony, watching the clouds pass through the noon sky.

"Look Aang I know…," she began turning to the door. She stopped when she saw it was Tyren.

"Get out," she said curtly.

Tyren raised an eyebrow. "You could be a little nicer you know, considering you just tried to turn me into a pin cushion." Katara didn't answer but turned her back on Tyren again.

"Alright Katara, no more games, no more hiding, no more keeping me in the dark; why do you hate me?" demanded Tyren. Katara again didn't respond. "Katara," Tyren said softly. "I deserve a chance."

"Why do you think you deserve anything," she snapped.

"I haven't given you any reason to hate me. So why do you?" asked Tyren calmly.

"I have plenty reason not to trust you. First we were warned about you. You may have fooled everyone else but I know you won't always be so friendly," Katara said rounding on Tyren. "Second, you hurt all of us. I don't know how the others have forgotten so quickly but you did your best to kill us all. You almost did kill Suki!"

Tyren closed his eyes but didn't contradict her.

"And finally…you…you…," she didn't seem to know how to say it.

"You keep thinking of me like you think of your mother's killer," Tyren finished quietly.

Katara gripped her head in her hands. "Stop looking in my head! You have no right to look into my head."

"I don't mean to look inside people's heads," Tyren snapped. "And when your emotions are that strong it's kind of impossible for me not to see it."

"Just get out Tyren," she said bitterly turning back to the balcony. "Just get out."

Tyren turned to leave but stopped himself. He needed to try and get through to her. He needed to convince her to give him a chance.

"Look, Katara," he sighed. "I'm not going to waist my time away trying to convince you. If you don't want to trust me, alright, but shouldn't I at least get a shot to prove myself." He took a step forward. "Didn't you once tell Zuko you could forgive him? What about me?"

Katara looked down and didn't answer.

"Just something to think about. I'm not a monster. No matter what you believe," said Tyren firmly. "And if you can't at least give me one chance then you're going to have a whole collection of these," he threw the ice pick, still blood stained, at Katara's feet. "But the next one might be fatal."

And with that he turned and left. Katara didn't move. She thought about what he had said. Could she afford to trust Tyren? She took a look down at the ice pick. The blood stained on it seemed to glow orange in the sun. Katara bowed her head and cried.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tyren returned to his room. He probably should go see a doctor for his arm, but he really didn't want to have some doctor fawning over him. He would just take care of it himself.

He settled in his guest room. The bed was just as it had been the first night. It was neatly made and you could have never told anyone had ever slept there.

He didn't know how it happened. He just knew that he had gotten out of bed and walked in the bathroom. When he had walked out the room was spotless. Xu said none of the servants had done it either; they had all been asleep at that time.

He walked into the restroom and began pulling out disinfectant cream, gauze, and wrap from under the sink. He winced in pain as the wound stung sharply from the disinfectant. As he worked on his injury his mind worked on the Katara problem.

It was completely obvious she despised him. He would have to be blind not to see it. But there had to be a way to gain her trust. Zuko had done it had he had given them reason not to trust him by attacking them at every turn. Tyren began wrapping up the injury.

He was so deep in thought while dressing his wound he didn't notice the scenery change. The nice, simple Fire Nation bathroom disappeared and was replaced by a purple and black sky. He also didn't notice the shadowy figure standing in front of him.

Finally Tyren looked up from his newly bandaged wound.

"You guys should really warn me before you do stuff like this," said Tyren dryly, looking around.

"You don't seem surprised," said the shadowy figure.

"I don't think anything will ever surprise me ever again," said Tyren. "You're that shadow that yelled at me the last time I was here aren't you?"

The figure laughed. "Yes, that was me. You didn't seem to be getting the message."

"Well I hardly think this is really my home," snorted Tyren.

"But it is. The Shadow World is your one true home," said the figure. As he spoke his shape turned from one of a man to a tiger; all black with the eyes seeming to glow purple.

"Do you normally do that?" asked Tyren warily.

"I am the shadows; I can not stay in one form for too long. I'm always shifting, changing," growled the tiger.

"Right," muttered Tyren still eyeballing him. "What did you call me here for?"

"I think I can help you with your…predicament," said the tiger.

Tyren snorted. "You help with relationships? Are you a doctor too?"

The tiger scratched his paw on Tyren's bandages.

"Hey what the…," Tyren stopped. The wound was gone. There wasn't even a scar.

"I think you'll want to listen to me," growled the tiger.

"Right," said an amazed Tyren.

The tiger changed into a giant bird. "If you want to gain the girls trust," screeched the bird, "look to see what has worked before."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Tyren. The bird got its giant purple eye inches from Tyren.

"Look into the memories you've stolen. What has worked before? You said it yourself Zuko gain her trust. He had to do something to gain it didn't he? What did he do?"

Tyren thought for a few seconds.

"He helped her catch her mother's killer," he said.

"Exactly," screeched the bird. "So you know you need to do something with her mother."

"She is the only one who could maybe talk some since into her," muttered Tyren. "But wait, wait, wait I'm not a miracle worker. I can't bring her mother back if that's what you're implying."

The bird changed into a giant dragon. He shot black flames from his mouth and Tyren had to jump out of the way to avoid being roasted.

"Everything I can do you can do. Some things even betters since you're a bender," yelled the dragon.

"So I can bring the dead back to life?" asked a confused Tyren.

"NO!" roared the dragon. "You can let her talk to her mother though! You are much like the Avatar. You're a bridge over into different worlds."

"But I don't know how to do that!" exclaimed Tyren.

"Then I will teach you!" the dragon turned into a giant evil looking sea monster. "I will teach you how to do that and more!"

Tyren looked deep into the purple eye that was bigger than his own body.

"So teach me," he said calmly. The sea monster let out a sharp toothed grin and turned into a giant panda.

"So I will teach you shadowbender. I will teach you."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Katara sat alone in her room. She had locked it away from the others and refused to eat anything. She wasn't hungry anyway.

The door jiggled softly.

"Go away," she called over her shoulder.

The jiggling stopped. Katara continued to just stare at the wall. She didn't want to talk.

"Locking yourself away? A little depressive for someone with your attitude isn't it?" came a voice.

Katara whipped around wide eyed to see Tyren leaning calmly against the door.

"How did you get in here?" she demanded.

"I know a few things," Tyren said flashing a smile. Katara returned it with a scowl.

"Get out. If I wanted to talk I would have unlocked the door."

"Don't I get at least a little chance" Tyren asked.

"What makes you think you can gain my trust? I've told you already I will never trust you," Katara said turning back to the wall.

"What if I could let you talk to your mother?" asked Tyren quietly.

Katara's breath caught in her chest.

"How dare you," said Katara forcefully. "How dare you try and use my mother-,"

"To make a point," cut in Tyren. "I'll let you talk to her no matter what. But I'm hoping if you do you'll see I'm not such a bad guy. Not the monster you think I am, anyway."

Katara glared at Tyren. "Why should I trust you?"

"What have you got to loose?" said Tyren softly. Katara didn't answer.

"Come on, sit down," said Tyren motioning to a spot in front of him.

Katara hesitated and then sat down. Tyren smiled softly and then began meditating.

"How does this work?" demanded Katara. "Are you going to drag me to the Spirit World?"

"No," said Tyren. "I'm going to call your mother here. It's a combination of her spirit and the imprints and memories she left on the world. Her _shadows _if you will." Katara just nodded and waited.

"She was around that necklace a lot wasn't she?" asked Tyren softly. Katara touched the water tribe necklace around her throat.

"It used to be hers," she said softly.

"I can tell," grunted Tyren. He seemed to be thinking hard. "Alright I don't know how long you'll have. The amount of time you get depends on how strong I am and since I'm new at this, I doubt my strength.

As he finished his eyes glowed. They gave of a black light and so did his whole body. He looked like he was in his own miniature Avatar state. The light seemed to siphon off of him and gather in front of him. They took the shape of a person and slowly Katara's mother slid into focus.

"Mom," said Katara softly. She couldn't believe it. This couldn't be real.

"Hello, Katara," said Kya softly. "I've missed you so much."

Katara hesitantly reached forward but Kya held up her hand.

"No Katara you can't touch me," Katara drew back her hand. "I'm sorry sweetie but that could break the connection. The poor boy is still learning and is lucky he got this far."

"I just can't believe it's really you," Katara said hoarsely.

"Yes it is me," said Kya smiling. "And I've seen all your adventures. I'm so proud of you honey. You've grown up to more than I could have ever dreamed!"

"It was always you pushing me," said Katara softly. "You always kept me going."

Kya smiled. "But something's bothering you Katara. What's wrong?"

Katara looked away from her. "I don't know I just…I just…,"

"I'm not mad you didn't avenge me," said Kya quietly. "Not taking that man's life, showing restraint, was the best decision you ever made. I was never as proud as I was when you spared that man."

"You were proud of me?" asked Katara.

"The proudest," said Kya smiling. "Now what else is the matter?"

Katara eyes flickered to Tyren. "I don't think I can trust him. You should have seen him when we fought him the first time, his eyes; they reminded me of the man who killed you."

"So you're afraid he's a killer?" asked Kya.

"I'm afraid if I trust him and I'm wrong…if he kills somebody…it would be my fault," said Katara quietly.

"Katara," said Kya quietly getting close to her face. "Looking to see the good in people, to trust that side of them, is never wrong. This boy is trying _everything _to gain you trust. Your friends trust him, so why don't you? He doesn't want to be the monster you're making him out to be."

Tears poured silently out of Katara.

"Now you don't cry now," said Kya, her own voice cracking. "Don't decide to hate someone when you see them at their weakest."

"Alright," said Katara softly. Kya's body began to distort.

"He's too weak to keep going," she said hurriedly. "Remember it's your decision, but look for the good in all people. I love you,"

"I love you mom," said Katara. Kya remained there for a few more seconds; Tyren began twitching. Then she disappeared and Tyren snapped out of it.

"Woah," he said groggily. He swayed there for a few seconds looking like he was about to pass out. Katara caught him as he started to fall.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked hoarsely. Katara let out a watery chuckle.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," she said hugging him.

"Sure, sure," said Tyren patting her awkwardly on the back. He was happy. For once he felt like nobody thought he was a monster.

_Longest chapter by far. I thought it wasn't as slow as the last one but you guys are the judges of that. Tyren's gained everyone's trust. And he apparently has a master to help him now. Mmmmm….? If you guys didn't enjoy it I hoped you at least got through it. R&R. THANKS! _


	12. Toph and Tyren

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**Chapter12: Toph and Tyren**

**Toph 16d ASC **

**Fire Nation Palace**

Toph was bored.

Actually that was an understatement. Toph was really, really, really, bored.

Even that sounded like an understatement in her mind but she didn't feel like adding any more really's.

She sighed in annoyance at felt the sun she couldn't see shine on her face.

It was everyone else's fault she was so bored. The girls of the "I'm so in love" club had dragged their respective boyfriends to some "alone time". This left her all alone, wandering around the palace doing _NOTHING! _Stupid girls and their boyfriends…

_Who needs guys? _Toph thought bitterly.

_Who needs a boyfriend? They just make you stupid. _

She remembered how stupid she had been when she had liked Sokka.

"Stupid boys," she murmured.

"A-Are you alright Miss Toph?" came a nervous voice.

Toph snapped her head up. So deep was she in her own misery and boredom she hadn't noticed someone standing in front of her.

"It's Xu right?" Toph snapped.

"Y-Yes Miss Toph," Xu said.

"Well it's not _Miss _Toph. If you call me _Miss _Toph one more time I'll make sure you're singing soprano for a week!"

"Y-Y-Yes M-I mean umm...very well Toph?" Xu flustered.

Toph grinned. Tormenting someone was just what she needed to cure her of her boredom.

"Where are you off too?" she asked.

"Oh…well I-I-umm….I have a few uh…minutes off…and I-I wanted to umm…get some food," he stammered.

Toph grinned again. "Xu, Xu, Xu. You know I can tell when people are lying. And you sir…are the biggest and worst liar I have ever met. Now," she stomped her foot on Xu's and when he bent over in pain she put her arm around him tightly. "What are you doing?"

"I-I-I'm going to see….a friend," he choked.

"What kind of friend?" asked Toph sweetly.

"My-my…girlfriend," Xu muttered.

Toph laughed. "See that wasn't so hard to say. Now run off to your lady friend or she'll be mad at you. And thanks for entertaining me."

"Sure thing mis-I mean Toph," Xu said and rushed off.

When he was safely away Toph dropped the grin and sighed. So even Xu had a girlfriend, and he had only been here ten days.

_Maybe there's something wrong with me? _Toph thought dully.

But what could be wrong with her?

_Your brash, bold, disgusting, un-lady like in every way, you enjoy fighting and physical pain. Need I go on? _answered a small voice in the back of her head. It sounded oddly like her mothers voice.

_Shut up! _Toph thought. 

Her mental argument was interrupted when she ran into what felt like a brick wall.

"Oh, I apologize Toph. I didn't see you there," said Iroh helping Toph to her feet.

"It's alright Iroh I should have been paying attention," said Toph dusting herself off.

"Why are you wondering around all alone?" Iroh asked. "Did you not want to be with the others?"

"Nah, the others didn't want to be with me," grumbled Toph. "They all went to make kissy faces at each other."

"Ah, I though it strange that my nephew wasn't storming around," said Iroh lightly.

"Yeah and Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen are doing…I don't wanna guess what they are doing!" shuddered Toph.

"Your other friends Sokka and Suki, they are spending time alone, too?" asked Iroh.

"Yep, everyone decided it was "lovey gaga" day," grumbled Toph.

"So what do you do until they are done with ah…"lovey gaga" day," asked Iroh joining Toph as they walked down the hallway.

"This," muttered Toph.

"Why don't you join me for some tea? Maybe I can help the time pass."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well it had been interesting while it lasted.

Iroh snored peacefully his tea pot empty with a half finished game of pai sho, and a, once again, bored Toph.

The tea, as always, had been excellent and the pai sho game had been difficult for Toph to get. Unable to see the pictures on the tiles she had earthbent some that she could see.

It had still proven difficult for Toph to really tell what she was doing and she had a feeling the only reason that she hadn't lost was because Iroh was too nice.

_At least he was someone to talk to _thought Toph. _I guess I'll just let him sleep. _Toph finished the last drink of her tea and tip-toed out of the room.

_Maybe I should "accidently" walk in on Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen _thought Toph. _That would give me something to do. Or maybe I'll go make Sparky mad. Or I guess I could go mess with Xu again. _

Before she could act on any of these thoughts, Toph heard music. It was a nice tune; soft, sweet, and pleasant. It sounded like someone was playing it on the ruan.

_Wonder who plays? _thought Toph. It seemed to be coming from somewhere upstairs.

_Maybe they won't mind if I drop in on them _Toph started walking up the stairs. The music increased in volume when she got to the next floor.

"Hello?" she called out softly. No one answered and the music continued playing.

Toph walked down the hall listening hard and trying to tell were the music player was.

Halfway down the hall Toph found the room with the music. She could see the other instruments lined along the wall but she couldn't see anybody in the room.

"Hello?" she called again.

The music stopped sharply.

"Who's in here?" Toph called out nervously. She wasn't used to not being able to tell what was in front of her.

"Hello Toph," came a quiet voice.

Toph jumped back. There was someone here but she couldn't see him? Then it dawned on her. There was only one person she couldn't see.

"Oh it's you Tyren."

"Disappointed?" he laughed. Toph wanted to kick herself. She had probably looked like a scared little blind girl, walking around not being able to tell what was in front of her.

"No," she snapped.

"What are you doing up here?" Tyren asked pleasantly.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," shot back Toph. She needed to recover.

"Well I was just walking around and I found this place. I didn't really know if I could play anything so I just started trying to play. Turns out I play the ruan," Tyren grinned. "So what are _you _doing up here?"

"I-I-I was bored and I heard the music…" grumbled Toph. Were her cheeks just a little red? Why was she blushing?

"Did you like it?" asked Tyren brightly.

"Well….it was…um…it was ok," she said.

_Maybe I should get out of here _Toph thought.

Tyren laughed again. "Thank you, I probably need more practice."

"No you don't," Toph blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Well thank you," smiled a surprised Tyren.

"Well maybe I should go...,"

"Oh don't go!" said Tyren a little too quickly. They both blushed.

"I mean…there's really no one else to be with is there so…uh…why don't you just stay up here?" stammered Tyren. He had never really been this unsure of himself before. Toph walking in had caught him completely by surprise.

"Ok..," muttered Toph. She earthbent a chair up behind her and sat down.

"Uh…do you play anything?" Tyren asked.

"Um…no. I'm blind, see?"

"Oh right…sorry," muttered Tyren.

"Ah, don't be," Toph said. There were a few more uncomfortable seconds.

"So can you play songs or do you just make it up?" Toph finally asked.

"I kind of don't remember any songs. Memory loss and everything," Tyren said.

"That's right," mumbled Toph. They just sat there for a few more minutes not saying anything.

"Where's everybody else? I noticed they weren't around?" asked Tyren trying to make conversation.

"They thought it was time for some…personal time or something. They're all making kissy faces at each other somewhere," replied Toph. Why was she blushing about that?

Tyren chuckled. "If I would have known that I would've tried to mess with them."

Toph grinned. "I was debating it."

Tyren laughed heartily. "What do you normally do when everyone else hides to uh…go make "kissy faces" at each other?"

"Well nothing really. Usually Uncle Iroh is fun to hang around but he fell asleep," said Toph.

"I'm surprised actually," said Tyren scratching his chin.

"About what?" asked Toph suspiciously.

"Well you've traveled all over the world and you haven't found a boyfriend. That just surprises me."

Toph sighed in annoyance. "Yeah well when you're running from a crazy Fire Lord, dating opportunities are really limited. And besides, the blind factor kind of turns most guys off. No one wants to be with the helpless blind girl." Toph said bitterly.

"I really doubt you're helpless," said Tyren.

"Got that right," said Toph leaning back.

"Lady Toph," came a gruff voice from behind them.

"Yeah?" answered Toph turning to the burly guard standing at the door.

"I have a message scroll for you."

"A message scroll? Who's it from?"

"Your parents," answered the guard.

Toph froze. "My parents?" she said quietly.

"Yes Lady Toph."

"Give it here," she demanded.

"Do you wish me to read it to you?" the guard asked, confused how the blind girl would read the scroll.

"NO! Now give me the damn scroll and be on your way!" yelled Toph. The guard gave her the scroll and quickly left.

Tyren observed Toph closely. She was breathing heavily and holding the letter like she expected it to explode.

"Do you want _me _to read it to you?" he asked.

"If I just told him no why would I say yes to you?" Toph snapped. "My family is my business and I don't need you or anybody helping me out.

Tyren paused. "That's right. You don't like your parents do you."

"No," snapped Toph. "I love them. But…they were the reason everyone thought I was so helpless. They locked me up. They gave me everything I wanted except my freedom. So they made me run away. And now if I try and go see them they'll probably lock me back up again."

"Or they could genuinely want to see you and make sure your ok after you've helped stop a war," Tyren suggested quietly.

"Who asked you?" demanded Toph looking livid. She turned to stop out of the room.

"Wait! Please don't leave. I swear I'll shut up about it. It's your business," pleaded Tyren.

Toph stopped and debated it.

"Fine," she huffed. Just play your stupid music."

Tyren smiled warmly. "Sure."

Then Tyren began playing. It was different from most of the music Toph heard. Most people when they wrote music tried to make it sound high pitched and happy. They played it fast and at some points hurt your ears from all the noise.

But Tyren's playing was different. It was the lowest music Toph had ever heard. It never came close to being high pitched and it was so slow it seemed almost…sad.

It made Toph's breath catch and she couldn't help but stare in amazement at the unclear figure in front of her. They both sat there, Tyren playing and Toph just listening to the music as the sun set. Finally however the song drew to a close and Toph snapped out of the moment.

"That was…," she didn't know how do explain it.

"That was your song," said Tyren quietly. They both blushed again.

"Thanks…," Toph really didn't know what to say.

"Mr. Tyren Mi-I mean Toph," said Xu, peeking his head through the door.

"Yes," said Tyren not taking his eyes of the blind girl in front of him.

"Its dinner time if you would care to join us," Xu said glancing curiously from Tyren to Toph.

"Yeah, we'll be right there," said Toph.

"Very well," said Xu and still looking curiously at the two.

Tyren and Toph continued to stare at each other for a little while longer.

"I guess we better go," said Toph finally.

"Yeah I guess so," said Tyren standing.

"Same thing tomorrow?" asked Tyren as Toph turned to leave.

Toph looked back. She wasn't sure what to think. Who needed boys right? But Tyren seemed…

"We'll see," she said and left.

From the room next door, Iroh was grinning like a maniac.

_That worked better than I thought_

-------------------------------------------------------**The Next Day**------------------------------------------------------------

"It's so nice to get out of the palace," said Katara. She breathed in the fresh air.

The gang had decided to escape the confinement of the palace and spend the day out in the market. Everyone except Tyren that was…

"Yeah it is pretty nice," muttered Toph. It was a treat to finally get out of the palace. It was what Toph had been begging for. But she couldn't help glancing back at the palace.

The others didn't know about the day before with Tyren and, as far as Toph was concerned, never would.

But she couldn't forget. That had been an interesting day to say the least.

Toph had never spent any time alone with Tyren before then and had found him…charming. And she never thought anybody as _charming_.

"Toph?" asked Aang looking at her quizzically. "You there?"

"Mmmmm…?" Toph said snapping up. "Oh yeah I'm here."

"Where do you want to eat?" asked Zuko disguised as a simple citizen.

"I don't care," muttered Toph going back to her thoughts.

"Is she alright," Sokka whispered to Katara.

"I guess so," said Katara looking at Toph like she too was worried.

Toph, however, was blissfully unaware of the conversations around her.

_I wonder what he's doing? _she thought wistfully.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Concentrate!" yelled the shadowy figure of a man.

Master Niy, as the shadowed figure was called, was not one to hide his impatience and expected perfection.

"I'm trying!" shot back Tyren. Sweat was dripping off him and he was disgruntled and annoyed. In the past few days of daily training he had never had so much trouble with a lesson or his concentration. Understanding things and doing them quickly was something Tyren had always prided himself in.

Now he couldn't seem to get a hold on his mind, and his anger had steadily been reaching its peak. The Shadow World seemed to glow brighter with his frustration.

Truthfully he was trying to concentrate but he was consistently interrupted by her face worming its way back into his mind. Yesterday had been probably one of the best days that his damaged memory could remember. It had even topped getting through to Katara.

_Toph_

Tyren shook his head quickly. He needed to concentrate.

"Then do it!" shouted Master Niy and he turned into a giant black dragon again.

Tyren faced the marker across from him. They had been working on expanding his teleportation techniques for the past hour and only three times had Tyren moved. They had all been off target on top of that and it had helped neither man's mood.

Tyren stared down the pole. He just simply needed to jump through the shadows and walk out. It should be simple. So why couldn't he do it?

Tyren spun on the spot quickly, entering his shadow like a doorway.

_Yes! _Tyren thought triumphantly. Then Toph entered his brain again.

"Damn!" yelled Tyren. He had overshot the marker by ten feet. Master Niy was there in a flash.

"What is this?" he roared, still in dragon form. "I can do it and I'm not the bender. What makes this so difficult for you?" Master Niy pondered for a moment. "Maybe you simply need some incentive," the dragon grinned evilly.

"What incentive?" asked Tyren warily.

"Think of it this way. Do it right or you'll be roasted and then you won't ever see your precious girlfriend again!" yelled Master Niy and he shot black flames from his mouth.

"Holy-," Tyren spun on the spot. He looked around and realized he had repapered right next to the marker.

Master Niy nodded stiffly, now a large dog. "Very good. Maybe I should threaten you life more often during practice."

"I'd rather you not," said Tyren holding his chest.

"But I will anyway," Master Niy grinned toothily. "So what is so special about this girl?"

"How do you know about that?" muttered Tyren.

Master Niy shook his head and was now a giant lizard. "Everything I can do you can do Tyren. The same rules apply the other way."

"Oh," grunted Tyren.

_I guess that's why Katara thought it was so creepy _Tyren thought.

"Well she just…you know she's….," Tyren couldn't find a way to say it.

"Forget it," said Master Niy. He turned into a sky bison. "I'd rather not know on second thought."

_I wonder what she's doing? _Tyren thought looking away from his master.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Toph walked down the cool hallway.

She had always liked walking at night. The cool floor always made her feet better and there wasn't anyone to bother her. No servants asking her if she needed anything or guards asking her if she was alright.

Toph took a seat on the stone bench in one of the many gardens. It was peaceful here. Toph loved places like this. Where she didn't have to look out with her earth sight and instead could just listen. Listening was good sometimes.

"Do you mind if I join you?" came Tyren's soft voice.

Toph jumped out of her seat.

"Woah there Toph I didn't mean to startle you," said Tyren holding up his hands.

"Oh hey Tyren. Where have you been?" asked Toph sitting back down. "We all missed you at dinner."

"I got called in for some training," said Tyren taking a seat next to Toph.

"You have a master?" asked Toph, surprised.

"Apparently. I met him in the Shadow World. He's a little…strange," Tyren said.

"Maybe we'll all meet him sometime," said Toph.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. Like I said he's crazy." Both of them chuckled.

"How was the city?" asked Tyren.

"It was o.k," shrugged Toph. "Wish you could've been there."

"Yeah I would have enjoyed that," said Tyren softly.

They sat there in silence Toph just listening and Tyren watching the moon.

"Hey I never really got to say thank you. For that song you wrote for me," said Toph lightly breaking the silence.

"Oh, well you're welcome," said Tyren awkwardly. They both blushed. After a few more seconds they both stood.

"Well I guess I'll be going."

"Yeah I guess."

They both stood there looking at each other. The blush had really risen in both of their cheeks.

"Well…good night Tyren," said Toph softly.

"Good night Toph," said Tyren just a quietly. They were centimeters from each other. Toph could feel Tyren's warm breath on her face. Tyren wanted to kiss her. He felt like he needed to. He was so close to her.

But something stopped him. A strange feeling told him to wait. That now would not be a good time. Tyren stopped and pulled back slowly.

"I'll see you in the morning Toph," said Tyren quietly and walked away. Toph listened to him go.

She didn't leave for her room until she was sure there was no one around to see her tears.

_Toph and Tyren? An item? Maybe…. Hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it was just a bunch of drama._

_HEY I NEED YOUR GUYS HELP. THIS IS A POLL THAT WILL AFFECT THE STORY FROM HERE. SHOULD I PUT IN Mai and Zuko's WEDDING OR NOT? JUST MESSAGE ME OR PUT YOUR VOTE ON THE REVIEWS PAGE. VOTE!!!! _


	13. The Wedding

_Hey you guys. Thanks to all who voted and reviewed. This is for those guys who wanna see Zuko and Mai's wedding. I know you were all eager so I just put it up by itself. Enjoy._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**Chapter13: The Wedding**

**Everyone 17d ASC**

**Palace Dining Room**

"Why can't I go!?" demanded Tyren frowning.

The gang was eating breakfast and had been having the same argument with Tyren for the past half an hour.

"Because," sighed Aang, "no one else knows what you can do or that you even _exist._"

"It would just cause a bunch of questions and someone might discover your secret," said Zuko.

"But, come on!" begged Tyren. "It's the first official Council of the Nations and you're really not going to let me come?"

"Nope," said Sokka. "We've met all these guys before. If you showed up with us then there would be the problem with explaining where you came from and all that."

"What's there to explain?" demanded Tyren. "I could just go disguised as one of your guards or servants or something. Who's going to care then?"

"Tyren, we know you want to go," sighed Katara.

"But the problem is that having a shadowbender that no one knows about in a room with all of the world's leaders is not what we find relaxing," finished Aang.

Tyren glared at all of them. "You guys still don't trust me," he said dully.

No one answered immediately.

"Don't think of it like that," begged Suki. "It's a precaution-,"

"Not a punishment because we don't trust you," finished Zuko.

Tyren didn't look convinced.

"What am I going to do while you guys are gone?"

"I don't know. What do you normally do while we're gone?" asked Sokka.

"Train and wait for you to get back," muttered Tyren.

"Well you can get some serious training done," said Sokka.

"Hooray, all day training with Master Niy for three days. What fun!" sad Tyren dryly.

"Who's Master Niy?" asked Aang.

"I'll tell you later," grumbled Tyren.

They were all interrupted by the arrival of Toph. Tyren immediately looked down at his plate.

"Good morning Toph. You slept in," said Katara.

"Yeah, well, I was sleepy," yawned Toph. Tyren was extremely glad Toph had trouble seeing him now.

As he thought this Toph casually walked around his chair and lightly brushed up against his arm.

_Damn it! _thought Tyren. Toph was smart.

"Good morning Tyren," she said curtly.

"And to you Toph," Tyren couldn't help but smile softly. Everyone looked with confusion at the two. Tyren just shrugged.

"PLEASE CAN I GO!?" Tyren yelled, trying to catch the gang off guard.

"No," said Aang, taking bite of his apple.

"Go where?" asked Toph dishing up her own plate.

"To the Council of Nations," answered Katara. "He's been trying to get us to let him go all morning."

"Well he can go for me," said Toph. "I don't like the idea of sitting in a tiny room full of old, annoying, sweaty people who are going to argue the whole time."

Tyren looked at them hopefully.

"No Toph, you have to go," said Zuko

"Why?" demanded Toph.

"Because you're the assistant to the Earth King and he will need you there," answered Aang. Both Toph and Tyren's faces fell in defeat.

"Fine," grumbled Tyren. "I'll stay in the stupid palace."

"Good," smiled Katara.

They all finished breakfast and, bellies full, left to go do some live sparring in the indoor training room. It was the only place that Tyren could practice shadowbending since it was closed off and indoors. Zuko, however, stayed behind.

"You coming Sparky?" yelled Toph.

"Yeah, give me a minute," replied Zuko. "Mai, could I talk to you?"

"Sure," said Mai, hanging back. Zuko began sweating.

"Man, is it hot in here," he chuckled.

"No," said Mai, raising an eyebrow. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Um…yeah, yeah I'm fine," muttered Zuko.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Mai looking around the room.

"Well…I…um…I-I wanted to…I wanted to…..a-a-ask you s-…something," Zuko chocked out.

_This is not going like I hoped _thought Zuko. When he had imagined proposing to Mai he had been confident and romantic. Now he felt like he had when he had been facing Azula for the Fire Nation.

"Fire away," said Mai, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend's attitude.

"Well…you-you know…we've um…we've liked each other a long time and…um…w-well we've been going out for a while…," Zuko stammered.

_Get a hold of yourself _he thought furiously.

"Right…," said Mai eyebrow still raised.

"And I was…well…I was…I just wanted to ask…I wanted to know…," Zuko couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Will you spit it out Zuko," said Mai.

"I…will you….will you…w-will you marry me?" Zuko finally pushed the words out and held out a ring as he took a knee.

Mai blinked and looked down at the ring. Her face was impossible to read. A few seconds passed.

"You know if you don't like the ring we could go get a new one or if you need more time I completely understand…," Zuko said very fast.

Mai put a hand over Zuko's mouth. When he looked up into her eyes he was overjoyed to see her smiling softly.

"Zuko….it's about time. Of course I'll marry you," she said.

"R-Really?" asked an amazed Zuko.

"What did you think that I was just going to be your girlfriend for the rest of your life?" asked Mai. "Now get up here and kiss me."

Zuko, smiling like a maniac, stood up and hugged his future wife.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you," replied Mai and they shared a passionate kiss.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Dance little airbender, dance!" laughed Tyren manically.

Zuko and Mai had walked into the training room hand in hand to find the familiar sight of Aang dodging and evading Tyren's attacks.

"This doesn't have anything to do with me not letting you go to the council meeting does it," gasped Aang narrowly jumping over a tendril.

"Oh no," grinned Tyren with a glint in his eye. "I don't hold grudges."

Another tendril barely missed Aang's head and made a decent crater in the wall.

"Hey!" yelled Aang looking with shock at the wall. "Watch it that was my head!"

Tyren just laughed again and continued his assault.

Zuko and Mai waited the fight out for a while longer, watching with interest as Aang dodged every attack but never once attacked himself. He was clearly in trouble.

"Break!" yelled Aang. The tendrils that were coming at him stopped inches from his entire body.

"DANG IT AANG!" yelled Tyren. "Stop calling break!"

"I need it," wheezed Aang.

"If you guys are done I would like to let you all know something," said Zuko.

"What's up?" asked Sokka.

"Did something bad happen?" Suki asked looking quickly at him.

"What I can't have good news?" demanded Zuko.

"Well we rarely get good news," pointed out Katara. Zuko took a deep calming breath.

"Well it is _very _good news," he said. "Me and Mai….we are getting married." No one said anything.

Sokka blinked like had just gotten hit in the face with something and Suki was gaping opened mouth at them. Aang and Katara both had smiles on their faces but seemed incapable of making any noise. Toph had a grin on as well. Tyren was frozen in place, his water satchel still dripping out water.

"Well…say something," said Zuko.

"Wow…CONGRADULATIONS BUDDY!!" yelled Sokka gripping Zuko in a bear hug.

"This is so great!" yelled Katara, also giving Zuko a hug.

"Thanks," grinned Zuko.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" squealed Katara, turning to Mai and giving her a bone crushing hug as well. Mai wasn't ready for that and almost fell over.

"Thanks," she muttered patting Katara awkwardly on the back.

"This will be so awesome!" yelled Suki giving Mai and Zuko both a hug.

Aang was all grins as well. "Nice job Hotman."

"Thanks Aang," said Zuko and the two friends gripped each other in a quick hug.

"Alright Sparky!" said Toph slugging him on the shoulder. "You too Gloomy."

"Thanks," said Mai.

"Awesome, my first wedding," said Tyren. "At least the first one I'll remember. Nice job you dog you." Tyren shook Zuko by his shoulders, both of them grinning widely.

"Thanks you guys," said Zuko.

"When are you guys going to have it?" asked Suki excitedly.

"We decided we wanted it before the Council of Nations so…two days from now," answered Mai.

"Two days from now!" yelped Aang.

"Yeah, everyone we want to come is here or in the city," said Zuko. "So all we have to do is prepare ourselves."

"MAI!!! YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!" broke in Ty Lee coming in from behind. Tyren quickly dropped the shadow he had in his hand. Everyone's eyes darted to Ty Lee. She was so excited about Mai she didn't notice the movement.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" screamed Ty Lee. She had a death grip on Mai and was laughing and jumping up and down.

"Thanks…Ty Lee," chocked Mai. "Can you…let go of…me?"

"Oh, right sorry," said Ty Lee releasing her friend. "And Zuko…YOUR GETTING MARRIED," Ty Lee shrieked.

"I think I lost my hearing," muttered Toph. Tyren turned his laugh into a hacking cough.

"Thanks Ty Lee," said Zuko.

"Do you mind if I borrow your bride-to-be…girl stuff," said Ty Lee. "You come too Suki and Katara."

"Go on," said Zuko.

Mai looked wide-eyed at Zuko.

"Save me," she mouthed.

Zuko just chuckled as Ty Lee, Suki, and Katara led Mai out of the training room.

"Well then if I may borrow the soon to be husband," grinned Tyren.

"What do you mean?" asked Zuko suspiciously.

Tyren gathered shadows and took his stance. "I still need to work off some of my anger before you have a wife to look after."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Two days later… 19d ASC**

**Zuko, Aang, Sokka**

**Royal Dressing Room**

Zuko paced back and forth through the dressing room.

"Calm down Zuko or you're going to pace a hole in the floor," said Sokka.

"You're not the one about to be married," snapped Zuko.

"Woah there calm down," said Sokka holding up his hands.

"How can I calm down? This may be the most important night of the rest of my life. How do you except me to CALM DOWN?!!" Sparks shot out of the end of Zuko's fist.

"It's alright Zuko," Aang said, taking his friend and sitting him down in his chair. "You're going to do fine."

"But what if I don't," muttered Zuko hanging his head.

"Do people ever tell you that you worry too much?" asked Sokka yawning.

"Constantly," growled Zuko.

"Look it will be real easy Zuko," assured Aang. "You go up there, say your vows, survive the after party, go on your honeymoon and everything is perfect."

"Oh, yeah," snorted Zuko. "Should be real easy."

"Just _relax,_" sighed Aang.

"When you marry Katara you'll see how stressful it is," grunted Zuko.

"Hey now," said Sokka.

"Well I've been thinking about that…," said Aang.

"I am in the room," said Sokka.

"How did you want to do it?" asked Zuko.

"Well I really wanted to make it special, but I don't know what I should do. I mean I could give her another betrothal necklace but she already has her mom's…,"

"LALALALALA!" yelled Sokka putting his fingers in his ears.

"Oh right…sorry Sokka," blushed Aang.

"It's alright," grumbled Sokka.

"Today's your day Zuko. Just relax. You are going to do fine," assured Aang again.

"If you guys say that one more time my foot is going up your…,"

"I wonder what the girls are doing?" asked Sokka.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, Katara, Toph **

**Bride's Dressing Room**

"I can't believe you guys are making me wear this!" Toph bawled.

She was wearing a bridesmaid dress of brilliant pink. Katara, Suki, and Ty Lee all had similar dresses on. The strapless dresses were elegant and smooth, made of fine silk, and finished nicely around their heels with a little lace.

"Oh come on grumpy you look great," said Ty Lee.

"Yeah Toph we are all wearing one," said Katara twirling in front of a mirror.

"This is so humiliating," grumbled Toph. She picked at the lace on her dress. "Why does it have to have lace?"

"It's cute," assured Suki.

"Stupid fancy cloths and their lace and…," Toph trailed off grumbling to herself.

"Hey can one of you help me out here," Mai's annoyed voice came from behind the changing station.

"Oops…sorry Mai," said Ty Lee, skipping back to help her friend.

"I'm so excited…I haven't been to a wedding since the South Pole when the war was going on," said Katara.

"I know, there were never really many weddings on Kyoshi," said Suki.

"Well what do you think?" asked Mai coming out from behind the station.

She and Zuko had decided on a more traditional wedding so the clothes were all shades of red. Mai's wedding dress was a light red. It wasn't quite pink but it was still lighter than most cloths Mai wore. Thin straps hung around her shoulders and she had long elegant gloves on her hands.

"You look great!" squealed Katara and she, Suki, and Ty Lee all wrapped her in a giant hug. Mai looked quite annoyed.

"I'm not going to hug you," said Toph.

"Thank you," muttered Mai.

"Are you so excited? You're finally going to marry Zuko," asked Ty Lee grinning wide.

A small smile crossed Mai's face and she seemed pleased. "Yes, I guess I am excited."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Zuko, Aang, Sokka**

**Royal Dressing Room**

"Nephew, are you ready?" asked Iroh sticking his head through the door.

"Is it time already?" asked Zuko looking sickly pale.

"Yes it is…oh now let me have a look at you."

Zuko was wearing a dark red rope with the ceremonial black shoulder pads. Aang and Sokka's robes mimicked his but lacked the shoulder pads.

Iroh smiled at his grown up nephew. "You are ready."

"You think so?" asked Zuko. Iroh could see the nervousness and fear in Zuko's eyes.

"Zuko, there is no one else more ready than you. I only wish your mother was here to be with us," Iroh stopped as pain flashed across Zuko's face.

"We will find her Zuko. Have faith," said Iroh. "And now it is time to take a big step in your life. Your wedding awaits you."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tyren walked into the large open plaza where the wedding was to take place.

It was decorated nicely, with small fires burning in bulbs strewn around the open courtyard. The other guests were already seated and Tyren could feel the anticipation building.

He did not walk in unnoticed however.

The guests, especially the females, seemed to be giving him a lot of attention. Frankly Tyren was feeling a little uncomfortable with all the eyes boring into him.

It wasn't until one of the girls winked at him and said, "Hey cutie," did Tyren realize why they were staring. It made him blush slightly.

Tyren was wearing white dress tunic and pants that were the exact opposite of his usual ninja like garment. They were a bright white that seemed to make him sparkle. He also had a jacket that had small amounts of gold lining, adding to the feeling like he was glowing.

It wasn't the most comfortable cloths Tyren had worn but apparently they were dressy enough for a wedding.

He also didn't like the fact that his hair was flat against his head except for the bangs that stuck up out of his eyes. It made his scalp feel strange. But again he had been told this was a wedding and hair that looked like it had been blown around in the wind was not…_presentable_.

He took his seat at the back of the throng of people and was relived that many of them looked away.

About five minutes later Toph rushed in and took her seat at the front of the crowd. Tyren recalled that she had opted out of being a bridesmaid, claiming she just didn't want to do it.

_Seems it didn't stop Ty Lee from making her wear the dress _thought Tyren. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

_She does look nice in it_ he thought innocently. He recalled that night in the garden. Why hadn't he kissed her then?

_Stupid! _

His thoughts were interrupted by the music beginning. Everyone's heads turned to the doors behind Tyren. Realizing that must be where they would come out Tyren turned to look as well.

First to come out was Zuko. He had a death stare forward and a forced smile on his face.

"Good luck," hissed Tyren.

Zuko let out a quiet grunt and continued down the aisle. Tyren chuckled to himself again.

Following Zuko was Aang with Katara on his arm.

_They look nice _thought Tyren. _When is their wedding I wonder? _

Following them was Sokka and Suki. They both inclined their heads at Tyren and joined Zuko, Aang, and Katara at the alter.

Finally came Ty Lee and…Xu? Tyren raised an eyebrow at his friend. Xu just grinned, looking somewhat dazed. Was that lipstick on his cheek?

Tyren suddenly noticed that everyone else was standing up, and he quickly followed. Mai entered holding on to her fathers arm. Somewhere in the crowd someone blew their nose in a handkerchief.

When Mai got to the alter she turned and gave her dad a hug and permitted him to kiss her forehead. Then, smiling at Zuko, Mai's father joined her silently crying mother.

"You ready?" huffed Zuko.

"I've always been ready," said Mai softly. Zuko gave her a small grin and they turned to the Fire Sage.

"Good day to everybody. The unconditional power of love is what brings us together on this fine evening…," the Sage began.

Tyren couldn't really make an opinion on weddings. He could appreciate the power of love that Mai and Zuko shared but there seemed to be an awful lot of crying.

Katara, Suki, and Ty Lee were all crying at the same time. Sokka had tried to be strong but eventually had broken down in tears. Xu was next to break as the tears started coming. Even Aang let out a few tears here and there.

"So, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," the Fire Sage said smiling at Mai and Zuko. The couple looked at each other and kissed as the crowd stood, clapping and cheering.

Tyren grinned and joined the crowd in clapping for Zuko and Mai. He breathed in the air as the wind blew in his face.

"Storms coming," the shadows hissed. Sure enough black clouds were hurtling towards the Fire Nation.

_Good thing the receptions inside_

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The party was in full swing.

Zuko and Mai were grinning madly, shaking hands and talking to well wishers while Iroh talked and played pai sho with the older crowd in the corner.

Aang and Katara were hanging around with Zuko and Mai, talking with visitors and enjoying themselves.

Sokka and Suki were cutting a clear path threw the dance floor and seemed to be in full party mode; especially when the food came out.

Tyren was floating around the outside of the throng. Many people, most of them women, had tried to strike up conversations with him but he had avoided anything serious. The others had requested he talk as little as possible to avoid suspicion.

Besides he only had eyes for Toph.

She was also trying to dodge around the party guests as best as she could. She, unfortunately, was having much less success that Tyren.

Boys of all shapes and sizes tried to sweet talk her and get her on the dance floor. Tyren had been counting and was at twenty that she had turned down but he thought he had missed some.

Tyren saw his opportunity to speak to her when she walked away from one boy leaving his feet stuck in the ground.

"You're breaking a lot of hearts tonight," he chuckled when he finally reached her.

"Yeah I'm a real heart breaker," said Toph over the noise.

"Why won't you dance with any of them?"

"Because," said Toph, a little disgruntled, "I know guys like them."

"You know every guy here?"

"No but I can tell all I need to know by talking to them for a few seconds."

"Like what?" asked Tyren nabbing a drink from a passing waiter.

"Well for one they are all liars. They all have the same pick up lines "you are so hot" "you light up the night" "all that's missing with your picture is me"…"

Tyren sprayed out most of his drink.

"Yeah I know," grumbled Toph. "Another thing is they all have some other reason. They only want to dance with me because I'm a hero in Sozin's war or because they think they need to protect me because I'm blind," Toph said sourly.

"What jackasses," Tyren said.

"And third I don't like them."

"Well then they have no chance."

"No, they all have no chance."

There was a few seconds pause

"Will you dance with me?" asked Tyren.

Toph blinked in confusion. "Didn't I…what was the point of me…I just told you what I think about guys didn't I?"

"You said you don't like _those _guys. I'm different."

"How so?" grumbled Toph.

"I'm not a liar."

"Oh really?"

"You do look very nice tonight."

Toph didn't say anything.

"And I should know you don't need any protection."

Again Toph didn't reply.

"And I hope you can like me enough to give me one dance. Just one," said Tyren.

Toph didn't know what to do. She wanted to. She really wanted to say yes. But hadn't he walked away from her. But he seemed like he was sorry. And Toph may have trouble seeing Tyren but she believed he wasn't lying.

Toph bit her lip. "Alright," she finally said.

Tyren grinned and took Toph's hand. It was pleasantly warm and felt safe holding it. It reminded her of how she felt when she had first found the badger moles.

The music began, a soft slow tune, much like the one Tyren had played for Toph just three days ago. Toph felt like she was gliding on air. She was a good ways shorter than Tyren but he was moving very gracefully and she couldn't help but enjoy it. It felt this was sure to be the best dance she would ever have.

After it was over Tyren and Toph just stared at each other for a while.

"Wow," they both muttered.

Then Toph shook her head and said, "Come on," and led Tyren over to the outskirts of the thong of people.

"That was…lovely," said Toph softly.

"Thanks for the privilege," Tyren grinned.

"We'll do it again sometime," Toph said.

"We will?" asked a surprised Tyren.

Toph got very close to his face. He could smell her perfume and feel her breath. He thought for a moment their lips were sure to touch.

"Oh yes we will," said Toph and she pulled back to see Zuko and Mai.

Tyren just stood there stunned for a few moments before he shook himself awake.

"Woah," he muttered.

Then something caught his attention. It was a movement by the guards.

It wasn't an obvious movement, but it made Tyren look around the room and he saw all the guards make similar motions.

_What the…? _Then he caught sight of the cloaked figure in the corner. He was crouched in the shadows and barely visible. But Tyren saw him and his friends all lined up against the walls lift something slowly to their mouths. _Dart shafts! _

Before Tyren could stop them the darts were shot out and traveling for their targets. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl. He could see exactly were the darts were traveling. Towards Aang, Zuko and…Toph!

With a quick movement of Tyren's hands the shadows of the guests standing closest to the darts seemed to eat them before they could reach their targets.

Tyren saw the dumbfounded expression on the dart blowers faces as he slowly inched towards them. Before he got halfway there though one of the guards shouted, "Plan B," and the room was filled with robed intruders.

Before anyone could react Mai, Suki, and Katara had knifes to their necks and everyone was surrounded by armed assailants.

"We claim this palace in the name of Fire Lord Ozai," said one of the figures unmasking himself.

"Ozai is no longer Fire Lord," snarled Zuko. "And you would do well to leave…now!"

"I think not scum," snapped the leader of Ozai supporters. "We are in control now. Your guards are with us and you are locked away from your…loyal subjects."

"I'll deal with you myself," growled Zuko taking a fighting stance.

"Tut, tut, tut," smirked the leader. "If you so much as lift a finger your precious little wife will be…terminated."

The thug holding Mai tightened his hold on her. Zuko closed his eyes and lowered his hands.

"Very good," said the Ozai supporter. "Same goes for you Avatar." Aang glared at him.

"So you are all aware I am Teng, Ozai's most loyal and successful supporter."

"Well then you can join him in his prison cell," yelled Toph.

Teng turned to Toph. "Ah, Toph the blind earthbender; we don't seem to have any leverage against you…subdue her," he said to the guards.

Toph prepared herself against the many firebenders and guards surrounding her.

Tyren began shaking with furry. "I think not," he said in a deadly whisper.

He threw his hands in a downwards motion and the shadows caused all the guards to drop their weapons.

"What the…," Teng gasped. He was cut off by Tyren raising his hands into the air. All the shadows of the Ozai supporters turned into spikes, clipping the tail of their robes and pinning them to the ceiling.

"What…what…what are you?" he stammered. Tyren didn't answer but Teng could see his eyes…his eyes were pitch black.

Tyren made a cutting motion with both of his hands and suddenly the shadows released the men from the ceiling and began flailing around like many squid tentacles.

The carnage was amazing. All the tentacles managed to hit every Ozai supporter in mid air and slam them through a table or into a wall. The shadows continued to flail around, breaking everything there. Glass shattered as a mirror was his and splinters from tables were launched all around. The walls were soon full of divots and cracks.

The shadows didn't stop until every Ozai supporter had hit the ground. When they had Tyren gathered up the shadows and advanced slowly on Teng.

"No," Teng begged backing away slowly, his eyes wide. "No, I'm begging you. PLEASE!!"

Tyren continued to advance slowly his eyes never ending cesspools. Something cracked and Tyren glanced down at the broken fragments of a mirror. He looked back up but then immediately looked back at his reflection.

Had his eyes been black?

No, that wasn't possible, they were brown. His eyes were always brown. Tyren shook his head and looked around the destroyed room.

Everyone was looking at him. Aang and Sokka were helping their girlfriends to their feet while Zuko hugged his wife and looked back at Tyren.

This would be difficult to explain.

_The secret is out to the world. THERES A SHADOW BENDER IN YOUR WORLD! APOCLYPSE! Lol. Hope you enjoyed the longest installment to the story. R&R. Thanks. _


	14. The Council of Nations

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

**Chapter14: The Council of Nations**

**Tyren 22d ASC**

**Royal Bedrooms**

Tyren threw the last piece of clothing he would need into his bag.

After doing another once over of the room, he clasped it shut and put it on his bed. Tyren sat down next to it and sighed.

He had wanted to go to the Council of Nations. He had wanted to go very badly, but not in this fashion. He hadn't wanted to go for this reason.

Tyren closed his eyes as last nights events played on his eyelids again.

He had looked around the room, waiting for the screaming to start or the fear factor to kick in. Surprisingly though no one screamed, just stared shell shocked at Tyren.

Zuko had all been for keeping them in the palace so they couldn't let anything slip but they couldn't just pull people out of their lives. They had been forced to send the guest's home with a hope that they wouldn't let anything slip out about Tyren.

"Tyren?" came a nervous voice from behind him.

"Yes Xu," Tyren didn't turn around.

"The other…they wanted to speak with you. If that's ok…," he said.

"Fine," sighed Tyren. "Tell them I'll be there in a second."

Xu nodded and disappeared down the hallway.

Tyren shook his head in annoyance. The others had taken the fact that shadowbending was public knowledge very bad.

Tyren had been called from his room two different times already. They treated him like a little kid who had got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. All because he and shadowbent to save them.

The first time they had bothered him, they wanted to know what he was thinking. They claimed that they could have handled it just fine. Tyren had about asked when they were going to start handling it but had kept quiet in hopes that they would leave him alone sooner.

The second time they had informed him that they would be taking him with them to the Council of Nations. He was probably going to have to do some explaining to the world leaders.

"But hopefully none of them know yet," Sokka had said. "So you may not have to speak at all until the next one. Because everyone is sure to know you're around by then," he finished darkly.

"They think I asked to go flaunting my shadowbending around…wasn't like I was doing it for no reason," Tyren grumbled standing from the bed and following Xu's path down the hall.

When he got to the dinner table everyone was standing there including Ty Lee. After the other guests had been cleared out, she had been filled in on everything. She had been a little put out at first that they hadn't said something sooner, but understood it was just a precaution. She had been extremely interested about shadowbending and eyeballed Tyren closely.

"Alright, what's the big meeting about this time?" grumbled Tyren.

"You at the Council of Nations," said Zuko.

"We just want to lay down some ground rules before we take off in a few hours," said Katara.

"Ground rules?" Tyren asked, raising an eyebrow. "What am I ten?"

"They are just the rules we want you to follow when you're with the world leaders. You know no shadowbending in front of them, don't take anything personally and freak out…," said Sokka.

"Oh so now I'm just a time bomb," growled Tyren.

"Well after the wedding…," trailed of Zuko.

"Don't you _dare _try and use that against me," snarled Tyren pointing his finger right under Zuko's nose. Everyone around the table immediately stiffened.

"Look we know you were just trying to help but we could have handled it," said Zuko glaring at Tyren.

"Bullshit!" yelled Tyren. "When were you going to handle it, huh? When their necks were cut open?" he said motioning to Katara, Suki, and Mai.

"Don't you…," began Zuko.

"And another thing," cut in Tyren. "Not _once _has any one of you said thank you. No, it's all, "oh Tyren you've caused us so many problems" or "why did you have to shadowbend Tyren?"

No one said anything.

"So I guess the next time I'll just sit on the sideline until someone _really_ gets hurt," Tyren snarled.

Everyone looked like they had been slapped in the face.

"Tha-," began Zuko.

"Don't bother saying thank you," snorted Tyren and he stormed out of the room.

Everyone watched him go in stunned silence. They could hear water dripping somewhere in the kitchen.

"He's right you know," said Toph.

"What do you…," began Sokka.

"You guys are treating him like public enemy number one, but he just saved all of us," said Toph. "He doesn't deserve all the crap you guys have been giving him."

"Us guys…," mouthed Zuko.

"Yeah haven't you noticed I'm the only not getting on his case," grunted Toph. "I don't like the way you're twisting around so he's the bad guy…again."

"No ones twisting anything…," began Aang.

"We had it all under control," mimicked Toph. "There wasn't any need for you to interfere. I'm the Avatar and I don't think you needed to get us out of there."

Aang went red in the face.

"She's right Zuko," said Mai softly.

"Yeah I feel kind of bad for him," piped up Ty Lee.

"Where are you going?" demanded Sokka as Toph began walking towards the door.

"Well if none of you are _I'm _going to go talk to him," said Toph. She left the group behind as they thought over miserably what they had done.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Knock, knock," said Toph.

She hoped this was the right room. She still couldn't get a read on Tyren but she heard this was his room.

"I don't want to…oh, it's you Toph," said Tyren surprised. "Come on in."

Toph walked into the room cautiously. It was one of the bigger rooms in the palace, she knew that. It was also uncharacteristically tidy for a boy.

"Man you are really clean," Toph muttered.

"You wouldn't say that if you would have seen it last night," chuckled Tyren. "It was a mess."

"Did you just clean it up?"

"No," said Tyren shaking his head. "I don't know who or what does it."

"What do you know?" Toph chuckled. Tyren laughed.

They sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Look," said Toph breaking the silence, "I never did get a chance to say thank you."

"You don't have to say thank you," grunted Tyren. "I was just angry."

"Yes I do have to say thank you," said Toph and she planted a kiss on Tyren's cheek.

Tyren blinked like he had gotten hit in between the eyes.

"Maybe I should save your life more," he muttered. Toph giggled.

_I just giggled _thought Toph. _What is wrong with me?_

"You know those guys don't mean to be such jerks," said Toph.

"Yeah I know," sighed Tyren. "But I feel like that I just got everyone to believe in me and now…," he trailed off.

"They will get over it," said Toph. "They don't stay mad long."

"I shouldn't have lost my temper like that," muttered Tyren.

"No, you had a right to do that."

"I don't know…"

"You had every right to be mad," said Toph firmly. "They didn't deserve to treat you like that. You shouldn't ever let them push you around." She put her hand in his.

Tyren was a lot bigger than Toph. His hand was warm and it made her feel like when she was a little girl again holding her fathers hand or one of her guards. But she liked the feel of her hands on his. Tyren blushed but didn't move his hand.

"Thanks Toph," he muttered.

"Tyren?" asked Suki's nervous voice. Toph quickly moved her hand away.

"Yes Suki," sighed Tyren looking at her.

"We're going to leave soon if you're ready," she said.

"Alright thanks," said Tyren forcing a small smile on his face.

Suki turned to leave but stopped and turned back biting her lip.

"Look Tyren about what happened…," she began.

"Don't worry about it," said Tyren softly. "I'm sorry I lost my temper like that."

Suki smiled and turned back down the hallway.

"I think everyone is a little scared of me again," sighed Tyren.

"Who needs them?" joked Toph. Tyren smiled again.

"We'll I guess it's time to go," he said.

"Oh joy," groaned Toph. "More Appa."

"I'm kind of excited about riding Appa," said Tyren smiling.

"Oh yeah who wouldn't be," said Toph sarcastically.

"I'm guessing you don't like Appa," chuckled Tyren.

"How did you guess?" mocked Toph. "Come on before they get mad at you some more."

Tyren smiled and followed Toph out to the garden.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So this is Appa?" said Tyren glancing up at the sky bison. He let out a low whistle. "He is big."

Appa grunted at Tyren and got down to eye level with him.

Tyren reached his hand out slowly. "Hey there buddy…,"

Appa roared softly and licked Tyren.

"Nice to meet you, too," grunted Tyren wiping the slobber out of his face.

"He seems to like you," said Aang lightly.

"Yeah, but if he really likes you he'll sneeze on you," said Sokka climbing into Appa's saddle.

"Are you still going on about that?" asked Katara. "That was like a year ago."

"Yeah but it was still disgusting," said Sokka making a face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Suki petting Appa affectionately. "Appa is not disgusting."

Mai however seemed to agree with Sokka.

"Do we _have _to ride…this," she said wrinkling her nose.

"It is the fastest way to get to the Southern Air temple," said Aang.

"And don't worry you'll get used to him," assured Zuko.

Mai didn't look convinced.

"Don't worry it's my first time, too," Tyren reminded her, patting her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll love it." Without further ado he jumped up into the saddle.

"Oh I'm sure," muttered Mai and she allowed Zuko to help her up on Appa.

"Wait for me," squealed Ty Lee, cart wheeling towards them.

"What took you so long?" demanded Mai for her perch on Appa's saddle.

"Hey a girl needs to be prepared for these trips," she defended holding up a bag.

"Well let's go," said Zuko. Ty Lee bounded up Appa's side and settled in next to Mai.

"This is going to be so fun! I've always wanted to ride him."

"Everyone settled in?" called Aang from the reigns.

"Go ahead Aang," replied Katara.

"Alright buddy, yip, yip."

Appa roared once and with a giant swish of his tail launched into the air.

Tyren thought it was the most spectacular thing he had ever done. The wind blew into his face as the powerful motion of Appa's tail forced him back. Within seconds they were high in the air and the Fire Nation capital quickly shrunk to a small dot.

Tyren grinned widely as he looked around the sky and felt more amazing than ever.

"This is amazing!" he yelled over the wind.

Ty Lee was giggling madly as well and squealing with delight at the fact that they were flying on Appa.

"Isn't this amazing Mai?" she squealed.

"Just great," Mai gasped holding a death grip on the sides of the saddle. She looked slightly green in the face.

"Are you alright?" Zuko whispered in Mai's ear.

"No," she muttered back.

Zuko chuckled and put a comforting arm around her.

"Can you sit down your making me queasy," yelled Mai to Tyren. Tyren just flashed a grin at her and looked over the edge of Appa's saddle. Mai put a hand to her mouth.

"Alright Tyren cut it out," said Zuko.

"Fine," Tyren said, taking a seat and still grinning.

"You guys might as well relax," Aang yelled back to the group. "We won't be there until tomorrow."

"Relax," sighed Tyren laying his head on his bag. "Sounds like a great idea." Within seconds he was fast asleep.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_There are trees everywhere. _

_It was such an obvious thing that Tyren felt stupid even thinking it. _

_Of course there are trees everywhere, he thought to himself crossly. What did you think would be here?_

_Then again…where was here? _

_Tyren looked around quickly. What had brought him here…wherever here was? It was defiantly dark enough to be the Shadow World…but he hadn't ever seen trees in the Shadow World before. _

_No, this was defiantly not the Shadow World. But this place still had a strange aura to it. The shadows were…different. They didn't act like the ones around the palace. _

_Tyren snorted to himself. What was he thinking? Shadows were different…please. _

_He tried to take a tentative step forward. _

"_Nooooo….," hissed something around him. The voice sounded cracked as though it was coming from ancient lips. Tyren froze and looked around him again, beginning to feel less and less confident. He had never heard the shadows talk like this before._

"_No, what?" Tyren whispered tentatively._

"_Go baaaaaack….go baaaaaack…," they hissed again. _

"_Go back where?" Tyren muttered. _

"_You can not beat him alone…," the voices whispered. _

"_Beat who?" demanded Tyren. _

"_What Tyren, do you not remember me?" came a high, cold, cruel voice from behind him. _

_Tyren whipped around to face his speaker. But the face of the attacker stunned him. It couldn't be…. This wasn't possible…it couldn't be! _

"_Yes this is real Tyren," said the speaker. "And now…die." _

_Tyren's mouth formed a scream that caught in his throat. The attack came at him with blinding speed and Tyren felt it hit him, go through him…kill him. _

_Tyren hit the floor dead. _

"NO!" screamed Tyren bolting up from his makeshift bed.

He looked around in confusion, the dream still running through his mind at high speeds and his heart racing.

Everyone around him was asleep. Zuko and Mai were curled up in a corner close to Tyren, but seemed undisturbed by his outburst. Ty Lee was close to them a smile on her face, undisturbed by nightmares.

Suki and Sokka were in the middle of the saddle, arms around each other. Sokka had started muttering to himself but stopped after a few seconds.

Even Aang and Katara were asleep on Appa's head, the reins held loosely in one of Aang's hands. They both were in each others arms and unperturbed by anything at all.

Tyren, still breathing heavily, put his hands on his head and rested his head on his knees. As he sat there he realized he was shaking even though he wasn't the least bit cold.

_What kind of dream was that? _Tyren thought shakily. It had felt so real. He could remember the smell of the trees around him; remember the feel of the ground under his feet…, the sound of the strange voices.

Tyren looked up at the sky. It was his favorite time of day, twilight. He loved watching the moon, stars, and rising sun light up the sky and up in the air the show looked even more spectacular.

But the sight did little to quell his worries. What had his attackers face looked like? Why couldn't he remember?

Tyren pushed against his temples and thought back to the dream.

He had turned around; he had faced his attacker. But after that he couldn't recall his face. Just the unimaginable fear and shock of what he had seen.

Tyren breathed in deeply and stood shakily. The wind blew in his face and Tyren closed his eyes and just let his worries blow away. It worked fairly well because when Tyren opened his eyes he managed to smile softly.

_It was just a dream _he thought calmly. He noticed that a shadow was looking at him, as though it was studying him. _Right? _

_Right…_muttered a tiny voice in the back of his head. Tyren felt worse again.

That's when he noticed the building looming in the distance. It was a large temple, covered in some mossy green foliage that was creeping up towards the top of the tower. It also seemed to be covered with guards.

"Crap," he muttered. The guards seemed to be loading arrows and catapults to launch at the gang.

"Uh guys…," said Tyren uncertainly. No one budged.

"GUYS!" yelled Tyren. Everyone immediately bounced up groggily taking battle stance.

"Whazamatter…," grumbled Sokka.

"Oh nothing much," said Tyren casually. "We're just about to get shot down by an armed battalion."

"Oh crap," muttered Aang. "I forgot about the signal." He stood quickly and bent a large gust of air at the guards.

It wasn't a powerful gust but when the guards felt it they immediately disarmed and made room for Appa to land.

"Avatar Aang," bowed the guard closest to him. "Welcome to the Council of Nations. I apologize for our misunderstanding."

"No big deal," said Aang returning the guards bow respectfully. "It was just as much my fault."

"Then if you are all ready I believe everyone will be coming down soon," said the guard. "This way please."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tyren glanced over the entering world leaders form his shadowed corner of the large assembly room.

They came from all over the world and entered in no apparent order. Katara sat next to him and told him who everyone was as they entered.

"That man in the blue with the beard, that's Chief Arnook. He's the leader of the Water Tribe in the North Pole. And behind him, that's General Fong, he's with the Earth Kingdom. I'm not really sure what to think about him…Oh and that's my father, Chief Hakoda!" She ran towards her father. "Dad!"

"Katara!" laughed Hakoda gripping his daughter in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you! How are you?"

"I'm great dad," said Katara and gripping her father even tighter.

"Sokka," roared Hakoda turning to his son. "It's great to see you son!"

"Hey dad!" yelled Sokka gripping in a tight hug as well.

"Hello Aang," said Hakoda respectfully. "It's great to see you as well."

"The honors mine," said Aang smiling.

"It's good to see you as well Toph," said Hakoda finally turning to her.

"Hey Chief," said Toph casually.

Tyren saw what the gang had ment by them knowing everybody. And by everybody they had ment _everybody. _

Every person who walked through the large doors was hugged and treated like an old friend. Tyren felt extremely awkward and was glad that his cloths kept him barely visible. The looks were minimal and if anybody did look at him they disregarded him.

Not long after everyone was seated and the Council of Nations was ready to begin. The world leaders sat across from each other surrounded by their respective advisors and generals. Zuko sat on the far left next with the Earth King smashed between him and Hakoda. On the far side, closest to the door, was Chief Arnook. He continued to look apprehensively down at Zuko from time to time but seemed determined to have his voice heard today.

Aang stood up shakily, knowing it was time to get started.

"Break a leg," muttered Toph.

Aang just grimaced and stood, facing everyone.

"Good morning to everyone," choked Aang. "I want to thank you all for coming today…," he trailed off not really knowing what to say. The people gathered in front of him shifted uncomfortably.

"Well…ummmm…you all know why you're here. Because it's time…it's time…," he glanced at all the people in front of him again and stopped. The heat seemed to be rushing to his neck and he felt like his throat was constricting.

_Why is this so hard? _Aang thought desperately. His eyes finally landed on Katara and she gave him a dazzling smile.

"Go on," she mouthed.

Smiling Aang felt renewed and continued confidently, "It's time to begin the rebuilding of the world. It's time for peace to reign now and I intend to start down that path today. I hope you are all with me and can be open minded today. The road to recovery maybe hard but I have a lot of hope that it will be successful."

Everyone clapped at the end of the speech and Aang felt even better.

"So if everyone is ready to begin I would like to start with the relief fund that we have."

"Wait a minute Avatar Aang," cut in Chief Arnook.

"Yes Chief," said Aang looking at him, surprised.

"There is something I would like to discuss first if you don't mind."

"Of course Chief Arnook," said Aang. "What is it you whished to discuss."

"I would just like to know if the rumors are true of a new Fire Nation weapon being hidden inside the palace itself."

The room reverberated with the sudden silence filling the room.

"Chief Arnook," said Zuko angrily. "We have all disarmed. All experiments and building of weapons has ceased. I assure you there is no weapon, and certainly not inside the palace itself!"

"Excuse me Fire Lord Zuko," sad Arnook darkly. "But my sources tell me that someone who was a guest at your _wedding _let slip that a very powerful and very dangerous weapon was unleashed."

Zuko and Aang's eyes flashed to Tyren and back.

"So if you would please explain that," said Arnook glaring daggers at Zuko.

"I…," began Zuko.

"Please Zuko let me do it," cut in Tyren standing up.

Everyone quickly looked at Tyren; apparently not many had noticed that anyone else had been in the room.

"Tyren you don't have to…," whispered Aang.

"I do," replied Tyren.

"Who, sir, are you?" demanded Arnook.

"I am the so called weapon that you were informed of," said Tyren.

Arnook immediately paled and his guards took positions in front of him.

"So this is what this council was for?" he thundered, "To murder all world leaders!"

"I can assure you Chief Arnook I have no intentions of harming you," smiled Tyren. "I am simply here to explain."

"Then please do so…I am also curious as well," said Hakoda.

"Well I'll start with my name," said Tyren. "My name is Tyren, and I don't remember anything about my life before sixteen days ago."

A hush came over the group of men and women. Tyren grinned softly.

"Yes it is strange isn't it? My first memory is of walking out of a cave on the outskirts of the Fire Nation. I was confused, disoriented, but I managed to make it to the Fire Nation Capital." He paused as he remembered what came next.

"I was…gifted with a special power. A power that I could not control at the time and that was not helped by my confused state. I am sorry to say I destroyed an entire plaza and the Avatar and his friends were forced to…subdue me."

"I heard those rumors," muttered King Bumi from his seat behind the Earth King. "Just thought it was some crazy merchant who lost his cabbages or something," he cackled.

"I did manage to prove that I was…trustworthy eventually," continued Tyren. "And I did my best to control my powers and I never used them to harm anybody or do any wrong."

"Until the wedding…," snorted General Fong.

"That was a…accident," said Tyren shortly. "We were being attacked and I simply stopped the attackers."

"And apparently scared everyone senseless," growled Hahn from next to Chief Arnook.

Tyren glared at him but kept his temper in check. "I ment no one else harm. And I can assure you all I am a person…not some weapon that will be used against you all.

"So what are your amazing powers?" demanded Chief Arnook. "What is it that is so great about you?"

"Chief, I don't know if that's such a good idea…," said Aang hurriedly.

"Nonsense," scoffed Hahn. "I believe we have a right to know if he turns into some monster or something…"

In a swish of his cloak Tyren was inches from Hahn's face, his face etched with fury. The shadows began curling up and wrapping up around him.

Everyone jumped up and took hurried steps back in shock except for Hahn who was closed in by a wall of advancing shadows.

"I," began Tyren. He took a deep breath. "Am…not…a…monster. Got it?"

"G-g-got it," spluttered Hahn.

"Thank you," said Tyren pleasantly and with another swish of his cloak, appeared next to Aang. Everyone continued to stare at Tyren in stunned silence.

"So that's what I do…I am a shadowbender."

"And you remember nothing before being a…shadowbender?" asked Hakoda.

"No. Everything before then is a blank," said Tyren.

"Well then he is just as dangerous," fumed Arnook pointing at Tyren like he wasn't there.

"I can assure you Chief Arnook he poses no threat," said Aang hurriedly.

"Yes I could tell by the way he threatened Hahn," snorted Arnook.

"I have been nothing but pleasant and have taken all the battering of people from day one," said Tyren stiffly. "I believe that I am at liberty to lose my patience once and a while; especially when I have been insulted."

Arnook went red.

"He's right Arnook," said Hakoda. "Please try to have some sympathy for him."

"I have no sympathy for a threat to a world that has just ended a war," whispered Arnook.

"I believe that is the question Avatar Aang," said the Earth King. "Does…Tyren…pose a threat to the world?"

Aang paused. He locked eyes with Sokka sitting next to his father. He seemed ready to defend Tyren's case. Then Aang looked at Toph frowning in Arnook's direction. Then, Zuko, who seemed to be shaking his head slowly at Aang and gesturing him not to give in. His wife seemed just as determined not to let Tyren meet an ill fate. Katara put a comforting hand on Aang's shoulder and seemed ready to back him up no matter what he chose. Finally Aang looked at Tyren. His eyes seemed to be pleading and Aang saw a look in his eyes that made him seem extremely old. Aang looked at all the leaders in front of him. All of them wondering if Tyren was a theat. Was he?

"No," said Aang firmly. Everyone in the gang let out a sigh of relief while Arnook looked even more furious.

"Well then I think all that is left is for us to decide," he hissed between clenched teeth.

'What?" asked Aang sharply.

"This is a Council of _Nations. _We, as the nation's leaders, get a say on this too," said Arnook smugly.

Aang knew he couldn't argue with that. "Alright, you all have twenty minutes."

After much anticipation and nervous muttering everyone once again sat in their rows around Aang.

"If everyone is ready I would like to ask Fire Lord Zuko to start us off," said Aang.

"Thank you Avatar Aang," said Zuko formally. He stood up and looked at all the assembled in front of him.

"My generals and I hope you all can accept our decision. My wife and I have spent a lot of time in Tyren's company. We have both decided and our generals are with us in saying that…we can trust Tyren." Tyren smiled at his friend and Zuko nodded his head at him.

The Earth King stood next. "All of my generals and advisors trust you Avatar Aang…as do I. If you say we can trust Tyren then we do," he said. King Bumi gave Aang a thumb up. Arnook glared at the Earth King and then looked expectantly at Hakoda.

"Chief Hakoda?" he pressed. "What say you?"

Hakoda took a deep breath and looked Arnook in the eyes.

"Please don't be offended Arnook but I must agree with Fire Lord Zuko and the Earth King. I trust the Avatar's judgment and the judgment of my children. If they say that Tyren can be trusted then he can be trusted."

Arnook glared at everybody.

"So does nobody care about the state of the world anymore? How do we know where he comes from much less if he's dangerous?!"

"I assure you when I find out where I come from you will be the first to know," shot out Tyren.

The shadowbender and the Northern Water Tribe Chief locked eyes.

"I apologize Chief Arnook," Aang said breaking the tension. "But it has been decided. Tyren will not be imprisoned."

Chief Arnook gave Tyren one last withering look before turning back to Aang.

"Very well Avatar," he said stiffly. "Let us carry on."

_*whistle* This took me a lot longer to type then it should have. We have a new longest chapter. I just keep out doing myself. Hope you all enjoyed it. Got to see a little of the old characters. Oh and don't forget that dream thing….you'll need it… (Cue the scary music) :) _


	15. To Gaoling

_Alright the moment you've all been waiting for! The insight on Tyren's insane powers and origins! ARE YOU READY!!!? Well…PYSCHE!! Lol. Sorry but your going to have to wait one more chapter for the action to really start beginning. I know, I know, I am very mean. _

_Oh and I owe all of you an explanation. Technically I should be done with the chapter by now but I ran into a little hitch in the road. No my parents didn't freak out on me, no it wasn't writers block, and no it wasn't because I was tired of it. My computer freaking crashed!!! Woke up one morning and bam it's not working. So I just managed to get some of what I had already written from that computer onto printed paper and now I'm working from the library. Sorry, but the process is now going to be much longer than it used to be. But I'm not dead and the story will go on. Here it is. _

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.**

**I own Tyren, Xu, Jun, and Teng. **

**Chapter15: To Gaoling**

**Everyone23d ASC**

**Southern Air Temple **

Everyone immediately wanted to talk to Tyren at the close of the Council of Nations.

The world leaders had been very fidgety for the rest of the meeting, looking like a bunch of school kids waiting for recess. Tyren, however, was hoping that the meeting would drag out.

All the world leaders would glance at Tyren, who couldn't help but feel like he was under a microscope.

Mercifully for the anxious world leaders, the Council was finally adjourned and they were able to snap up and move in to question the newly introduced shadowbender.

"So your Aang's new friend, eh?" said an old, hunched over man that Tyren knew was King Bumi. The old king scrutinized Tyren closely. "Interesting…this is unacceptable!"

Tyren jumped, not expecting a sudden outburst. "I apologize…," he began wondering what he had done.

"He didn't bring you by so see Flopsie!" King Bumi exclaimed, cutting across Tyren's apology.

"Oh…Flopsie…," Tyren muttered. He shuffled through Aang's memory to find Flopsie.

_Oh that's Flopsie; _he thought when he saw the large animal roll through his head. _Holy crap!! _

"I'm going to talk some sense into that boy…not bringing his new friend by to see my Flopsie," grumbled King Bumi, shuffling towards where Aang was standing. "And Flopsie would have loved to meet you too…,"

Tyren gazed at Bumi, not to sure about the old man's sanity.

"Oh and another thing," said Bumi, suddenly stopping and rounding back to Tyren. "I don't suppose if you ever come around that you could help with a few things could you? I mean, with your special abilities you could really help this old man out. And it does get difficult running a city after a while."

"Oh…uh…yeah, sure thing," said Tyren, utterly bemused. Memories suddenly flashed in his head. Aang being soaked in a waterfall as he tried to get a key, suspended in mid-air, Aang being attacked by a large gorilla goat…Flopsie, and Aang trying to fight the fragile looking king standing before him.

Tyren also saw that the fragile little king was _ripped! _

"Nice of you," smiled Bumi. He turned and shuffled off to bother Aang.

"Sir, an honor to meet you," said General Fong, shaking hands with Tyren.

Tyren noted the firm handshake, greeting, and the military look.

_Defiantly a military man to the core, _thought Tyren.

"Pleasures mine," he said.

"I really hope you are on our side…I would hate to have to fight you. I would be sure to lose a few men," General Fong said. The strategic thinking was not missed by Tyren either.

That and the memories of General Fong he had did not help his opinion of the man.

"Yes that would be…unpleasant," said Tyren stiffly.

A white haired old man and old woman were next in line. Tyren shuffled around his head again until he found their names. Master Pakku and Kanna…or as his mind kept telling him to call her…Gran-Gran.

"It is an honor to meet you," said Pakku shaking hands firmly with Tyren.

"Master Pakku," said Tyren, smiling. Pakku raised an eyebrow at Tyren.

"Have we met before?"

"Oh, no…umm…Katara and Aang have told me a lot about you," Tyren recovered quickly.

"Oh really?" said Pakku. "I was not aware that my students went on about my physical appearance so much."

Tyren's face turned red.

"Now, now Pakku leave the boy alone," said the old woman.

"Well if you know me, I assume to know my wife Kanna," introduced Pakku.

"Gra-ah yes…they have mentioned you both," Tyren said. He kicked himself mentally. This was insane! He had just about called someone he barley knew Gran-Gran. Even if it did feel like he really knew them.

_Stupid memories,_ he grumbled in his head.

"Very nice to meet you," said Kanna. "My granddaughter told me a little bit about you before the meeting, though she did fail to mention you're…gift."

Tyren gave them both a pained smile. "Yes well…they believed it better that no one knew."

"We will have to test your powers one day," said Pakku.

Tyren raised an eyebrow at the challenge.

"Oh yes…I look forward to it."

Pakku and Kanna moved on.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Tyren," said Chief Hakoda, offering his hand as well.

"Ah, Chief Hakoda," said Tyren warmly. "I must thank you for sticking up for me back there."

"If the Avatar and my children say you are trustworthy, then I believe that you're trustworthy," said Hakoda. "I just hope that Arnook did not offend you too much."

"He has a right to be nervous," said Tyren dismissively.

"But he had no right to be as rude as he was. That was impulsive of him."

Tyren found himself liking Hakoda more and more.

"Thank you, Chief."

"There is no need to call me Chief," laughed Hakoda. "It's just Hakoda to you." Tyren nodded his head.

"And if you don't mind I have a question for you. I hope you can answer me honestly," said Hakoda.

"Sure," said a surprised Tyren. "What do you need to know?"

"Are my daughter and the Avatar…well you see, I don't want to intrude on their…relationship but I thought maybe you would know. Since you've been around a while I don't know if they've told you anything," Hakoda paused in his blabbering and took a deep breath. "Are my daughter and the Avatar…doing anything impulsive and not telling me?"

Tyren almost busted out laughing at all the worry on Hakoda's face. It was a very fatherly like question…and slightly awkward.

"Don't worry Chief," said Tyren. "They aren't going to run away on you. As a matter of fact you will probably be the first person to know if anything is going to…happen."

"Yes…I suppose your right," said Hakoda, looking embarrassed. "Well, thank you anyway Tyren."

"Anytime sir," Tyren said.

"You handled that super smooth," snorted Toph from behind Tyren when Hakoda was out of earshot.

"Well it was a little random," muttered Tyren.

"Eh…fathers…," grumbled Toph. Tyren recalled the last, and only, uncomfortable conversation about Toph's parents.

"Speaking of which…," said Toph quietly as though she had read Tyren's mind. "I have a…request for you."

"What's that?" asked Tyren.

"Do you remember…that day…when you were playing your music and we just…talked?"

"I probably won't be forgetting that soon," said Tyren softly.

"Do you remember the message that came in?" Toph asked awkwardly.

"Yeah…," muttered Tyren.

"Well…I-I still have the ummmm…I still have the letter," she confessed quietly.

"You do?" asked a surprised Tyren. He had assumed that the letter had found its way into a nearby fire. Tyren never imagined that Toph would keep it…much less talk about it.

"Yeah," said Toph uncomfortably. "And I was wondering…hoping…since…you know I'm blind and all so that makes reading kind of difficult for me. So I was hoping maybe…could you maybe…could you read it to me?"

Toph felt like she was shrinking. She felt so vulnerable asking Tyren to read the stupid letter to her. She felt like she was Toph, the little girl again. But she had also realized something during the debate over Tyren's freedom. He hadn't hid had stood up to the people who were trying to take away one of the most important things in life. He had stood up to them and Toph figured if he could do it to strangers, she could stand to hear what her parents were going through so much trouble to send her. And really…she loved them and missed them a little bit too.

"Oh…yeah," said Tyren softly. "Of course I will."

"Not here though," said Toph, "Too many people."

"Alright…," said Tyren. The two of them carefully snuck out of one of the many unused passageways lined up around the room.

When they reached a secluded area Toph turned and handed Tyren a scroll. Tyren looked at the letter sealed by a flying boar.

"Are you sure about this?" Tyren asked.

Toph nodded.

"Alright," muttered Toph.

He broke the seal and unrolled the scroll.

"_Dear Toph," _read Tyren. "_We hope that this letter reaches you without too much trouble. We weren't sure where you were but your mother and I pray that it finds you eventually. How should I begin Toph? Needless to say we were devastated that you left. I just sat around the house all day, keeping the window's closed and the doors locked. I couldn't figure out why. Your mother really just cried. She was suffering just as much as I was with the thought that you may be hurt. At first your mother and I thought for sure that the Avatar had captured you from the house. Why else would you want to leave? It was easier to swallow than the thought that we had made you unhappy. And then on top of that stories began coming in. We didn't sleep for weeks after someone had said you and your friends were being hunted by the Fire Nation. What if something had happened you? But then new stories began coming in. They were all about how the Avatar and his group were actually winning! We were unbelievably relieved, you really have no idea. And eventually in there we saw the light Toph. You didn't deserve to be locked up and hid. You weren't cursed, you were blessed. And you were the biggest blessing to us, no matter how much money, power, or influence, we gained. Toph, you are a war hero and the best earthbender I have ever heard of. Your mother and I would be honored if you would grace us with your presence. But who we want to see even more than the war hero, is our daughter. We hope you can forgive us enough to come see us again. Love, Mom and Dad."_

Tyren's voice caught at the end of the letter. It had pulled at his heartstrings and he felt…really bad for all the trouble the Bei Fong's had gone through. He sniffed and looked up at Toph.

She was completely frozen in place. She hadn't moved at all during the entire reading and still had a black expression on her face. After a minute Tyren started to worry that she wasn't breathing.

"Toph?" Tyren asked tentatively.

He cautiously put an arm around Toph to make sure she wouldn't suddenly collapse. Tyren's touch seemed to kick start everything back up inside Toph and before Tyren knew what had happened Toph was sobbing into his shirt.

Tyren held her, feeling extremely awkward. It felt like he had walked into one of those private family moments and it felt like he should leave. But Toph seemed to need him and he wanted to help her, so he stayed. Toph's grip was so strong; Tyren doubted he could leave if he wanted to anyway.

"It's alright," mumbled Tyren, patting her back awkwardly. "It's alright."

"Sorry," hiccupped Toph, trying to restrain the flow of tears. "But…but…I didn't know the felt like that. I didn't think they had changed at all." The tears began pouring out, slowly this time.

Tyren paused, not knowing what to say. It didn't help matters when he noticed a shadow slowly moving in on them. With a jolt Tyren realized he was touching Toph longer than he ever had before and the shadow seemed to think it a good time to steal more memories. But Tyren wouldn't have it.

_No you don't _he thought furiously in his head. The shadow paused to look at him. Tyren imagined that if it had a face it would be looking at him with an incredulous expression.

_Back off _he snapped in his head. _Don't you dare even think about touching her! _The shadow seemed to get the point as it sulked back to its original position.

_Good _thought Tyren. The success of dodging that problem boosted his spirits.

"Alright now stop crying," said Tyren wiping the tears from Toph's face. She sniffed and looked miserably at the floor. "Just think now. What do you want to do?"

"Well…now…I really want to see them," she said quietly.

"Well then you should go see them," said Tyren.

"Yeah but I think I'd lose my nerve if I went alone," said Toph.

Tyren raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought everyone would come with you. Do they not like your parents?"

"No it's not that," said Toph. "It's just that they all have their own lives to deal with, I don't want to drag them all along." She looked shiftily at Tyren.

Tyren chuckled to himself. He saw the invitation she was trying to give him.

"Well I think I can put my life on hold," said Tyren jokingly. "So I guess I could come with you."

"Really?" she asked breathlessly. She flung her arms around Tyren's neck. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

"Sure, sure," said Tyren, enjoying the hug. "When did you want to go?"

"Well….right away if that's ok," she said tentatively.

Tyren grinned. "Then off to Gaoling."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You guy's are sure about this?" growled Zuko.

"Yes Zuko," said Toph, getting extremely annoyed.

"Just like we were the first six times," said Tyren, rolling his eyes.

Toph and Tyren were set up on two giant eel hounds. They were all packed for the trip to Gaoling and surrounded by their worried friends. The eel hounds were getting antsy but the gang was not ready for them to leave.

No one had been fond of the idea of Toph and Tyren separating from everybody, especially Sokka. He was under the impression that once everybody started going off their own separate ways from the group, that no one would see each other anymore.

"You guys are coming back after your done right?" Sokka sniffled. "You have to back to the Fire Nation right after you're done. No pit stops you have to come right back."

"Oh get over it Sokka," said Katara.

"Yeah, Blubber Brain," said Toph. "We'll only be gone a few days and then we will come right back."

"Promise," Sokka whined.

"How do you stand him?" muttered Mai to Suki.

"Oh, he's lovable enough," Suki grinned.

"Yes Blubber Brain, we promise," huffed Toph.

"Well then have a good trip," said Aang. The eel hounds are fast so they should get you there by nightfall. Beats staying up all night before you get there."

"Thanks Aang," said Tyren. "For everything," he added so only Aang could hear.

"Sure thing," smiled Aang.

"Bye, bye," said Ty Lee, waving so dramatically that Zuko was afraid he was going to be hit in the side of the head. "It won't be as much fun without you guys. Who's going to make weird stuff happen and call me Bubble Queen all the time?"

"Don't worry we'll make up for lost time when we get back," chuckled Tyren.

"Take care Tyren," said Xu.

"What's wrong Xu? Are you afraid I can't take care of myself? Or will you have trouble scaring off the monsters without me?" Tyren teased.

"Well…," said Xu glancing back at the doorway.

Tyren caught a flash of blue and knew immediately who was watching them.

"Don't worry, Arnook wouldn't do anything," Tyren assured Xu. "He doesn't want to upset the other world leaders or the Avatar for that matter. HE simply doesn't like me.

"I hope your right," muttered Xu.

"Have I ever not been?"

"No," admitted Xu.

Tyren laughed. "I'll see you in a couple of days my friend."

"So long."

Toph and Tyren snapped their reins and both eel hounds took off like rockets. It felt like they were flying down the mountain side as the eel hounds ran at break neck pace.

Behind them the gang was shouting good-byes but they were all lost in the wind to Tyren.

The experience was almost like flying and Tyren couldn't help but grin as the ground seemed to rise up to meet them. Before they knew it the eel hounds hit the ground and were barreling towards the water line that bordered the southern air temple.

With a gargantuan splash the eel hounds jumped into the water and began streaking into the seemingly never ending ocean.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aang had been correct in saying that the eel hounds would get them to Gaoling with no trouble. They reached the southern tip of the Earth Kingdom in less then two hours of swimming, even thought to Tyren it seemed to have taken forever.

The eel hounds strutted back onto land and began at a steady pace towards Toph and Tyren's destination.

"That was quite a ride," said Tyren, a little breathless.

"Eh, yeah I guess," said Toph, distractedly. "I've ridden these things before so it wasn't quite as amazing this time as it was then." She stared back up into the sky, obviously thinking hard.

Tyren chuckled at the less than tentative attitude of his companion.

"Thinking about your parents?" he asked.

Toph looked down at her hands.

"I just can't figure out what I'm going to say to them," she sighed. "Can they forgive me, will I be able to forgive them, and can things really work out, even though I don't want to live at home anymore?"

"It will work out," said Tyren confidently. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I know they forgive you, their letter said that they did. And they obviously still love you enough they want you to come visit. So the question is can you forgive them and still love them?"

Toph waited a heartbeat before answering.

"Of course," she said quietly.

"Well then if you guys can forgive each other and you still love each other, then everything else will work out. Love is a pretty powerful thing you know," said Tyren.

"Yeah I guess so," said Toph. "You're pretty wise for someone who can't remember most of his life."

"Well I guess Iroh rubbed off on me a little bit," laughed Tyren.

"Yeah that guy is pretty smart," snorted Toph, "And very good with tea."

"That he is," agreed Tyren.

They continued the rest of the ride in silence as the eel hounds continued to sprint towards Gaoling. Toph continued to glance nervously around with her sightless eyes and Tyren just enjoyed the scenery.

Finally they reached a giant stone door with the same symbol of the flying boar that had been on the letter addressed to Toph.

Toph jumped off her eel hound and it was immediately apparent that she was more relaxed.

"Yep, this is home," she smiled.

Tyren let out a low whistle. "Woah…home is…big."

"Yeah," grinned Toph. "Would you believe I can see everything going on here?"

"I've learned to expect the unexpected from you," said Tyren.

They continued to just stand on the threshold of the giant metal doors. Tyren didn't dare try and rush Toph to do something and Toph didn't dare to knock.

"Well," Toph finally said. "I guess it's time to do this."

"Yep," said Tyren.

"Here I go."

"Good luck."

"I'm going to knock."

"Go on."

"I'm going to do it."

Toph took a small step forward and nervously knocked once, twice, three times.

Almost immediately the giant doors opened and a guard poked his head out the door. He didn't seem to see Toph and instead addressed Tyren, thinking him to be the knocker.

"The Mr. and Mrs. are out. They aren't accepting visitors right now. Come back another day," he huffed as though he had given this speech many times.

The guard began to shut the door but was abruptly stopped by Toph.

"They'll want to see me," she said shortly. The guard looked down at Toph for a full ten seconds, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, and a look of complete shock on his face. His words seemed to be stuck in his throat.

"Of course Miss Toph," he finally chocked out. "I-I-I apologize…I didn't see you there. Y-yes of course your parents will want to see you."

"I'd like you to get my friend settled in as well," said Toph. Tyren gave a little half wave to the guard.

"Of course…right away," wheezed the guard. Tyren was hoping that he wasn't going to have a heart attack on the spot.

The guard, however, found his legs and sprinted up to the house calling out servants to attend to Toph and Tyren.

"Very nice," muttered Tyren to Toph. She didn't respond, instead simply marching up towards the house.

_This is not a house _corrected a stunned Tyren, looking around the complex in amazement. _This is more of a giant palace. With a battalion and everything, _he thought, nothing the hundred or so guards spread out through the gates and courtyards.

"We'll take your things sir," said a pair of servants, relieving the eel hounds of their load. "And shall we put your animals in a pen?"

"Yes thank you," said Tyren politely. The servants bowed to him and went to carry out their duty.

_Really not that much of a change from the Fire Nation palace, _thought Tyren. _People are still waiting on me at every turn. Wonder if I'll ever have to rely on myself again. _

Tyren continued to walk at a steady pace towards the house even though Toph was long out of sight. He had a feeling that he wouldn't have any trouble finding her before she talked to her parents.

Tyren's theory was proven true when he reached Toph standing in a hallway, staring at the doorway in front of her. Tyren could feel the presence of someone in the room and he could only assume it was her parents.

"Are you going to be alright?" asked Tyren. Toph didn't respond.

"You know your going to just have to grin and do it," he said quietly. "Remember what I said on the trail, about how everything would work out? Well I meant it. And I am not going to let you walk away."

Toph snorted.

"Come on now," said Tyren, prodding her forward.

"You're coming with me then," she grunted.

"Woah there…," protested Tyren but Toph already had a grip on his shirt and pulled him into the room with her.

The room was very dark was Tyren's first thought. His second was that the room was very _big. _It was easily double the size of what the chamber at the Council of Nations had been, but it seemed to vibrate with certain emptiness.

There was a lone man looking out a lone window that was the only light in the room. He didn't look at the door way when it burst open, but simply dully said over his shoulder.

"Didn't I ask not to be disturbed?"

Tyren winced inwardly. If only the guy knew who he was talking to.

"Oh, sorry," said Toph dryly. "I was under the impression you wanted to see me."

The man whipped around so fast Tyren heard his neck crack from across the room. When Tyren did get a good look at the man, it took all of his self-control not to look away.

Tyren thought that this was surely the face of a beaten man. It had to be the face of someone who had lost his mind about five times over and couldn't believe he was still alive.

The man's eyes were sunken in, making it look like they were about to cave into his head. The skin was tight and drawn and his cloths were much too baggy for someone his size. His skin seemed to be gray from a prolonged hiding from the sun and his hair was streaked with gray as well. Tyren knew this was not the face of the man Aang had seen when they had first come here.

It wasn't the handsome face that his memory told him was Lao Bei Fong

"Toph?" he croaked out. His voice was one of someone who hadn't spoken in days.

"Hey Dad," said Toph.

Lao moved like a man in a dream until he was an arms length away from Toph. He didn't touch her but just continued to stare at her like he was afraid Toph would disappear if he took his eyes off of her.

_Oh he's imagined her coming home for a year. He has had delusions, hallucinations, and the most realistic dreams ever. He should expect her to disappear…he should be insane._

The cold voice in Tyren's head caught him off guard. He hadn't been expecting the shadows to start talking to him, much less like they just had.

_Who the…?_ Tyren thought, glancing around. But his eyes saw nothing. The room was too dark and had too many shadows Tyren couldn't figure out what had happened.

"Is it really you?" Lao Bei Fong whispered.

"Yeah I'm really here," sighed Toph. "I'm home."

Quick as a flash Lao gripped his daughter in a bone crushing hug as tears ran down his cheeks. Toph thought she was going to suffocate and Tyren felt extremely awkward again.

"Let go Dad," grumbled Toph. "I can't breathe."

"Oh, I've waited for you to come back for so long," whispered Lao. "I can't believe you finally came home. I'm so happy."

"Thanks Dad," mumbled Toph but Tyren saw she looked really pleased.

"Oh let me look at you," said Lao holding her out at arms length and examining her up and down. "You've defiantly gotten taller. Oh, you're growing up into a perfect young woman."

Toph was caught off guard by that. Her dad had never called her a young woman before. She had always been daddy's little girl.

For the first time Lao caught sight of Tyren standing shiftily in the corner.

"And who is this?" he asked.

"Oh, Dad, this is Tyren," introduced Toph. "He's a really good friend of mine and accompanied me here."

"Well then I owe you all of my gratitude," said Lao bowing low.

"It was a pleasure. You have quite a daughter," said Tyren, returning Lao's bow.

Toph blushed and hoped that no one could see her face.

"Yes I do don't I?" said Lao. "Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am. We must go tell your mother. She's probably somewhere out in the garden she likes to sit out there before it gets too dark."

Lao, in a surprising feat of strength, picked up her daughter and twirled her around.

"She will be overjoyed that you're back!"

After grasping Toph in another bone crushing hug he pulled his daughter out of the room and down the hallway.

Tyren looked after them, slightly amused, before following them at an easy pace.

When Tyren finally did reach the garden he saw Lao, Toph, and her mother, Poppy, all in a tight family hug.

Poppy caught sight of Tyren she also bowed to him.

"I can't give you enough thanks for bringing our daughter back to us. You have both my husband's and my eternal gratitude."

Tyren simply smiled at took the praise. It was nice to be distrusted and feared.

"We hope you will stay with us as well," said Lao to Tyren, "Or at least for tonight."

"I plan to stay until Toph is ready to go," said Tyren. "We'll both be returning to the Fire Nation palace."

A look of pain passed both parents faces when Tyren said the last sentence.

"It seems we will have plenty to talk about," said Lao. "But that can wait for tomorrow, so I will lead you both to your quarters."

Tyren's room was just as spacious as his one at the Fire Nation.

"We hope your accommodations are what you hoped," said Poppy.

"It's perfect," Tyren assured her. "I don't need much."

Poppy smiled. "Please feel free to ask for anything. What is ours is yours."

"Thank you," Tyren said.

"No, Mr. Tyren, thank you," Poppy said and she kissed Tyren softly on the cheek.

Tyren smiled politely at her and Poppy left to wish her daughter a good night.

Tyren couldn't help but feel exasperated. This had been one of the best days ever in his book.

An entire day with Toph and he could see that she was happy talking to her parents again. Tyren had high hopes.

He just hoped tomorrow would be just as successful as today had been.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Zuko, Mai **

**Fire Nation Palace **

Zuko stretched out, and let out a big yawn as he prepared for bed.

The trip back into the Fire Nation had been a huge success, but sleep felt was something that Zuko was looking forward to. Sleeping on Appa should not be a regular thing.

"Are you done getting ready yet?" he yelled to his wife. Mai had gone to get ready for bed twenty minutes ago and Zuko couldn't figure out what was taking so long. Mai was never one to want to perk herself up too much.

Zuko was answered by Mai opening the door to the bathroom and standing there in her bed gown that maybe showed off just a little too much. Zuko's heart skipped a few beats.

"Are you complaining that I was getting ready?" Mai asked raising an eyebrow.

"No," Zuko said quickly reminding himself to breath.

Mai grinned and slowly moved towards him.

Elsewhere outside the castle a cloaked figure moved up next to one of the guards at the palace gates.

"Is everything in order?" asked the cloaked man.

"Yes. We can move when you're ready," answered the guard.

"Good," hissed the figure.

He looked up at the Fire Nation palace as one of the lights in the rooms winked off. He bared his teeth in an evil smile as he imagined what Fire Lord Zuko must be doing.

He hoped that the Fire Lord was enjoying himself tonight.

Because when tomorrow came, nothing would be the same.

_(Cue the scary music again) No one can leave the Avatar and his gang alone can they. I mean Zuko might as well have a target on his back. Oh well. Sorry again about how long this took to post. Oh and everyone I'm going to tell you now. I have the ending completely planned out; I just have to type it. You're going to love it, and then hate me, and then love me again. Just warning you. Hope you enjoyed. R&R_


	16. The Taking of the Palace

_Alright then, we are reaching the close of the amazing story! So bitter sweet isn't it? Oh, well it was a good run. I guess you could call this the beginning of the finally. Or maybe it is…the beginning of the end! (Scary music again!!!) _

**Chapter16: The Taking of the Palace**

**Tyren24d ASC**

**Unknown**

_Tyren eyes moved over his surroundings, taking in every minute detail. _

_He was aware of something. Tyren could feel that something…or someone was on him. It reminded him of all those times that he had thought someone was looking over his shoulder._

_But this was different. The feeling Tyren had made him feel unbelievable terror. He had never been so scared before in his life, and Tyren was never one to feel afraid. _

_So he ran. Tyren took off in-between the trees, not knowing where he was going but knowing he had to go. He had to find what he was looking for. He needed to escape what was watching him. _

"_You could never escape," a voice hissed. _

_Tyren increased his speed._

"_You can't run forever Tyren," the hissing voice seemed to chuckle. "And you can't hide, you can't fight, you can't beat me. I am your worst nightmare…." _

_The voice seemed to fade away and Tyren slowed down. _

_As he did he came to a small clearing._

_It was just an alcove and at first glance Tyren thought it was empty. Then he caught sight of the people standing on the far side of the clearing. _

_They all seemed to be fighting, but Tyren couldn't see what kind of bender they were. He cautiously moved closer to the battle when the combatants suddenly ceased. _

_Tyren saw why. Seven bodies littered the ground and Tyren knew they were the losers of this battle. _

_The clouds blocking the moon moved away and Tyren felt every fiber in his being scream out in agony. _

_Aang, Katara, Zuko, Mai, Sokka, Suki, and…Toph all laid there, eyes staring blankly at the sky. _

"_No," muttered Tyren, "No, this can't be happening." _

_A cold voice laughed behind him. Tyren's instinct told him to face the voice but he knew what would happen if he did. _

"_Oh this is all happening. As we speak it's happening," the voice said, all traces of hissing were gone. The voice was now defiantly human and…somewhat familiar. _

"_No," said Tyren again. "I can stop it." _

"_What makes you think you can stop it?" the voice chuckled darkly. "You can't even stop me." _

"_I will," said Tyren. _

"_No Tyren you won't," said the voice. "Because as I told you. You can't run from me, you can't hide from me, you can't fight me, and you can't beat me."_

_Tyren felt an unnatural cold seeping over him. _

"_And I am your very worst nightmare," the voice was hissing again. "Except…I am oh so very real." _

_Tyren lost his self-control. _

_He whipped around, hands raised to fight the demon that was threatening him and his friends. _

_But Tyren didn't even have a chance to defend himself. The demons attack hit him before Tyren could even see his face. _

_Tyren slammed into a rock and lay on the grassy floor of the clearing. _

_Tyren tried to rise to his feet but it was no use. _

_The life slowly left Tyren. _

"NO!!" Tyren yelled. He jumped out of bed and the shadows in his room suddenly went haywire.

They whipped around and destroyed everything in the room. Craters were etched into the stone wall and the bed was snapped into two pieces like a toothpick.

Tyren held his splitting head in his hands and ran out of the room as the door was shattered into pieces and tossed about the room.

His head continued to pound as Tyren stumbled down the hallway, bumping into everything.

This was the worst pain yet. Tyren was sure he was going to die. There would be no way that the pain would die down this time. It was over for him.

Then he fell out of a door and stumbled into the garden.

When the cool air hit Tyren's face the pain immediately began to recede and Tyren could eventually open his eyes.

His breathing was still short and quick and Tyren was sure his heart could be heard across all of Gaoling.

Tyren sat on one of the many stone benches in the garden and tried to regain his composure.

_That as the worst one yet, _he thought shakily. _Why do I keep having these dreams?_

Tyren up at the night sky and with pleasant surprise realized it was twilight again. The beauty of the sky made him relax a little bit and Tyren let his mind focus on nothing but the stars winking down at him as the sun and the moon fought over the rest of the sky.

Beauty was something Tyren had really begun to appreciate and the sky had to be one of the most beautiful things he had seen.

_Should have been an airbender, _Tyren thought sullenly. _Then you could have flown all the way up there and have the best view in the world. _

_And maybe less freaky dreams, _his mind added in after thought. 

"Tyren? Tyren, are you out here?" came Toph's voice.

"Yeah," Tyren said. He realized his voice was shaking. "Yeah I'm right here," he said a little stronger.

"Thank the Spirits I couldn't tell where you were," said Toph coming around the corner. "I thought I heard…something."

Tyren looked guiltily up at the sky. "It was nothing," he lied.

Toph frowned at him.

"Now I may have trouble seeing you, but I could tell that was a lie without feeling your heartbeat."

Tyren shifted on the bench as Toph sat down next to him.

"Now what happened?"

"It…," Tyren paused. He debated if he should just tell her what it was.

_No, _he thought to himself.

"It really was nothing. Just a dream, and then I needed some fresh air."

Toph didn't look like she believed it but didn't press the matter.

"Well are you sure you're going to be alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just need to breathe a little bit," Tyren assured her.

Toph yawned widely. "Alright then, I'm going back to bed. It's too early."

She got up and looked back at Tyren when he didn't stand up as well.

"You not coming back in?" she asked.

"No I think I'll just hang out here for a while," said Tyren. He wasn't ready to go back inside and for sure wasn't going to be going back to sleep.

"Alright," shrugged Toph. She turned to leave but stopped.

"You know this used to be one of my favorite places to hang out when I was a kid," she said softly. "There was always so much to see out here. It was a lot better than that stupid house."

"Yeah I like the gardens," said Tyren. "This one is really beautiful."

"I wish I could see it," said Toph. Tyren wanted to kick himself.

"Oh, well," Toph yawned again. "Goodnight Tyren."

"Goodnight, Toph."

When Tyren was alone again he put his head in his hands and fought off what was left of his headache.

When Tyren looked up, though, he wasn't in Toph's garden.

He was in the clearing from his dream.

Slowly Tyren stood up and looked around. He couldn't feel the voice from his dreams presence but he was still wary.

"Help me, Tyren!" a voice suddenly yelled. It was Toph.

Tyren immediately took off into the underbrush towards were he thought he had heard her voice. The trees around him seemed to be trying to suffocate him, but Tyren simply pushed them out of his way.

"Tyren, help me!" Toph yelled again. It seemed to be coming to the right.

Tyren took off at top speed through the brush.

_If that son of a bitch hurts her so help me I'm going to..._

Tyren's fear was confirmed when the voice called out to him.

"Better come save her," it hissed. "You wouldn't want her to be hurt now would you?"

This time the voice seemed to be coming to the left of were Tyren was running.

"What the…?" Tyren muttered, confused.

"Tyren, where are you? Tyren!" Toph yelled again.

This time it was coming from behind him.

Tyren growled in frustration and took off again.

"Tyren save me!" Toph cried.

"_Tyren save me!" _the voice mocked. "She's putting a lot of faith in you Tyren. Now where are you?"

Tyren felt tears stinging at his cheeks as the trees around him seemed to try and grab him and hold him back.

"Are you going to save her Tyren?" the voice yelled. "You know she is so young. She probably bleeds so easily…"

Tyren roared in frustration and suddenly everything around him was thrown backwards like a bomb had gone off.

The shadows expanded from Tyren with tremendous force and could not be stopped.

Trees were ripped from their roots and dirt and rocks flew everywhere. Dust was launched into the air and blinded Tyren so he couldn't even see his hands.

When the smoke cleared, however, he saw the clearing.

He saw Toph.

She was dead.

"You lose again, Tyren," hissed the voice from behind him.

"NOOOOOOO……" Tyren's screamed with fury and torment.

His scream carried on and on as the world seemed to revolve around Tyren like a spinning top. The surroundings lost their focus, the voice's laugh was jumbled and eventually unheard, and colors started to blend together.

When it all stopped Master Niy stood in front of Tyren and they were in the Shadow World.

Tyren was breathing heavily like he had run a very long race and for the second time in a short while, his head felt like it was about to explode right off of his head.

"What…," Tyren said through gritted teeth. The sound of his own voice made his head twinge with pain. "What is going on?!"

Master Niy looked calmly back at Tyren. He was in his human form, a shape he rarely took, and examined Tyren closely behind eyes that were clouded in shadow.

"I don't know," Master Niy finally said.

This caught Tyren off guard. He had never heard of anything his master did not know.

"What do you mean you don't know?" demanded Tyren. "You don't know or you don't want to tell me?"

"A little of both," said Master Niy, completely unabashed. He shifted and Tyren was now talking to a regular sized messenger hawk. "I have my theories," Master Niy's voice, boomed out of the tiny hawk, "But I'd rather not share them quite yet."

"You have to give me something," Tyren hissed.

Master Niy looked over Tyren with his piercing eyes.

"Alright," he complied. "Ask me a question and I will answer, as best as I wish."

Tyren gritted his teeth. It wasn't the answer he was looking for but it would do for now.

"Why do I keep having these dreams?" Tyren asked fist.

Master Niy laughed shrilly as his form took the shape of a hyena.

"You mean you couldn't figure out that one on your own?" he giggled in the mad voice of his form. "You're different Tyren. That really is explanation enough. Like the Avatar you…are aware of more than others."

Tyren did not miss the pause when Aang was brought up.

"You said something about the Avatar. Is Aang having strange dreams as well?"

Master Niy met Tyren's gaze and was suddenly a giant owl.

"The Avatar is aware of many things," he said. "It is not uncommon for him to have strange dreams and visions."

"You know what I mean!" Tyren shouted. "Is he having the same visions I am?"

Master Niy x-rayed Tyren with his big eyes.

"Of that I can not be sure."

Tyren decided to let the matter drop, choosing to change tactic.

"What do they mean?"

"Visions have many meanings," scoffed Master Niy, becoming a large bat with sightless eyes.

"You know what I mean?" growled Tyren. "What…do…my…visions…mean?"

"I don't know," Master Niy huffed. "That is your responsibility to find out."

"You can help me," Tyren said.

"Fine," Master Niy said, becoming impatient. "What are your dreams?"

"All of these dreams are of the same place," said Tyren. "But I have never been there before in my life."

"How would you know?" Master Niy sneered. He was now a penguin, as big as Tyren.

"Fine," said Tyren. "I don't remember being there. I haven't been there for as long as I can remember."

"What is the place?" Master Niy asked.

"A large clearing," explained Tyren, recalling his dream. "It must have been surrounded by a forest because it's surrounded by trees. And if I ever run into the trees it becomes black as night. Actually the whole place seems to be dark and shadowed all the time. The first time I saw it I thought I was in the Shadow World."

Master Niy gazed intently at Tyren for a few seconds before shifting to a rhino.

"What else?" he growled.

"There is always the same person there, too," said Tyren. "But I can never see his face. Or…I can never remember it."

Master Niy remained impassive.

"What does this voice do?"

"He just tortures me," said Tyren angrily. "He kills my friends, all the people I care about. They all end up dead and he laughs at me. And when I turn to stop him I…die."

This brought a flicker of something to Master Niy's face. But the next second it was gone and Master Niy was now a large serpent.

"They could just be nightmares," he hissed quietly.

"You know they're not," Tyren glared.

Master Niy got his giant beady eye centimeters from Tyren's face.

"It's time for you to go now," he said.

"No," said Tyren angrily. "You have to help me."

"Your girlfriends going to wonder were you're at," said Master Niy becoming a crouching tiger.

"She can wait," said Tyren.

Master Niy growled at Tyren. Tyren did not move.

"Some things, pupil, are better learned on your own," Master Niy spat.

With a jolt Tyren felt like he was flying backwards. This wasn't the same peaceful entering and exiting of the Shadow World. Master Niy had just thrown him out.

When the blurring colors stopped Tyren was back on his bench, nothing seeming to have changed around him.

"Damn it!" Tyren yelled to the sky.

"Master Tyren," a servant called dully from behind him.

"Yes," Tyren said still seething.

"Breakfast is served and the Mr. and Mrs. were hoping you'd be joining us," the servant said, monotone. When he caught sight of Tyren's face his professional face slipped and he almost ran the opposite direction.

"Yes," said Tyren through gritted teeth. "Tell them I will be right in."

"Y-y-y-yes sir," spluttered the servant. He took off running once he was sure Tyren couldn't see him anymore.

Tyren took a deep breath and strained his shirt. First he would take care of the mess he had left in his bedroom and then he would join the Bei Fong's for breakfast.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Aang**

**Royal Palace **

Aang looked outside to the sunlit sky on the balcony of his bedroom in the Fire Nation Palace.

Last night had been an amazing night.

He and Katara had spent all of it in each others arms and he had been given a revelation. He was going to ask Katara to marry him today.

The only problem was how he was going to do it.

The stress of knowing he was going to have to ask Katara to marry him today had done wonders for his sleep. Aang had dreamed the best dream in the world and the worst nightmare he had had in a long time.

The dream had been him and Katara. It had been their wedding day.

She had been in a gorgeous white gown and Aang had felt on top of the world. All their friends and been there gathered around and beaming with pride.

Everything had gone off without a hitch and they had gone off to live their lives in joy and happiness.

Aang shuddered as the memory of the nightmare that had rolled in after that.

It had been his worst nightmare about the shadowed villain yet. This time there hadn't only been Zuko dead in the clearing.

This time, everyone had been dead. Aang had seen all of their blank eyes looking out into forever.

Katara's body, broken and huddled on the grassy floor and her beautiful brown eyes, wide and blank.

And the evil figure. He was always just out of focus so Aang couldn't see his face. He stood over Katara's body, grinning maliciously with his teeth so white they seemed to act like a mirror.

And he won. The bad guy always won.

Aang shuddered again and almost dropped the ring in his hand.

After a lot of back and forth, Aang had decided to go with the ring.

Katara already had a betrothal necklace that she treasured and loved, and Aang would never ask her to take it off. She was just as beautiful with it on.

The blue ring was made of topaz and was the same shade as her water tribe necklace and cloths.

Aang had seen it in the market place shops and knew immediately this was the ring for Katara. Really it didn't do her justice, but Aang hoped she would love it anyway.

It clashed beautifully with the rising sun and Aang smiled softly to himself.

_Beauty…_it was a word he had thought of a lot.

And nothing would be more beautiful than their wedding.

Nothing would be more beautiful than this ring on Katara's finger.

Nothing would be more beautiful than Katara.

Aang chuckled to himself and pocketed the ring. With one last glance at the sky he went down to join his friends for breakfast.

Outside, the guards began moving. The cloaked figure walked into the palace flanked by over 200 hundred men.

The man smiled to himself.

There were no guards anywhere near their position. His men had played their part well.

And by the time anyone realized what was happening, it would be much too late.

The chain of motions had been set. The wheel was turning that would change everything.

And nothing could stop it.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So there is nothing that we can say to convince you not to leave," sighed Lao.

The Bei Fong family and Tyren were gathered around the table with a marvelous feast in front of them.

Tyren, between the Fire Nation Palace and the Bei Fong family, thought he silently that he would never ever be hungry as long as he lived.

The start of the meal had been pleasant.

Simply small conversations and stories; just catch up. Tyren was pleased because he wasn't required to talk too much.

This was Toph's moment after all.

Then the conversations had turned south.

Lao and Poppy did not like the idea of Toph leaving again at all.

They complained that she had just gotten back and there was no rush to leave.

Toph defended that she wasn't rushing and wasn't planning to leave right away. She couldn't forget about her friends either after all.

"You haven't really been here long at all, darling," said Poppy. "We were hopping you would at least stay a little while longer."

"We're not leaving now," huffed Toph. "But we will leave eventually."

The two parents exchanged worried glances again.

"Come on Mom and Dad," said Toph, annoyed. "You said you wanted this to work out. You can't cut me off from my friends if you want this to work. You need to trust me. I will come back to visit. I promise."

Lao and Poppy continued to look unconvinced.

"I'll make sure she visits as often as possible," Tyren interjected.

Lao and Poppy leaned back, a little more at ease. They had taken to Tyren and seemed have none of the problems trusting Tyren that others did.

"Very well," sighed Lao. "I guess it is the best we could as for."

Toph gave them a genuine smile.

"Thanks guys."

Later after breakfast Toph caught up with Tyren on the benches outside.

"Thanks," said Toph. "You know for helping me out in there."

"No problem," said Tyren, smiling.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Toph.

"Well I'm trying to see if I can do this…," said Tyren concentrating on his hands.

"What?" Toph asked impatiently.

"Oh right sorry," said Tyren. "Here put your hand here."

Toph cupped her hands and Tyren put his around hers. Toph blushed but instead concentrated on her hands.

"What are you doing?"

"What's in your hands?" asked Tyren.

"Nothing," said Toph, nonplussed.

Tyren paused and concentrated on Toph's cupped hands. He pushed his energy out, putting it all into one are; shaping it into one thing.

Suddenly Toph felt her hands pushed apart as a small dove poked its head out from in-between her hands. It cooed softly and blinked quickly as its face was bathed in sunlight.

Toph felt her breath catch.

"How did you do that?" she asked amazed.

"Complex shadowbending," said Tyren. He rubbed his chest in annoyance. He had discovered that taking his energy and focusing it on shadows he could create things. The only problem was that when he gave the energy away it made him weak and vulnerable.

Toph let the little dove go and it flew off into the open sky.

"This is amazing," said Toph. "You can create life."

"I wouldn't go that far," said Tyren. "I can't make too complex things. Inanimate objects are easiest and animals are incredibly hard. I don't think I'll ever be able to do a human."

"That's still impressive," said Toph. "What else can you do?"

Tyren grinned.

"Check this out," he said.

With a quick thought a beautiful diamond appeared in his hands. With another flick of his wrists it was some cloth. After a final wave it became a magnificent white rose and Tyren held it out to Toph.

Toph laughed and stroked the flower gently.

"Nice parlor tricks."

Tyren grinned and mock bowed.

"Mr. Tyren, Miss Toph," called out a messenger.

"What is it?" asked Toph.

"Urgent message from the Fire Nation," said the man.

"I'll take it," said Tyren.

He took the rolled up scroll and looked it over quickly. Toph looked up sharply when Tyren stopped breathing.

"What is it?" she demanded.

Tyren didn't answer, his eyes scanning the page rapidly.

It couldn't be….not again.

"What happened Tyren," Toph said angrily.

"It's the others…," said Tyren softly.

"What about them?"

"The palace…," choked out Tyren.

"Tyren, you tell me what happened this instant," Toph growled.

"Separatist's have taken over the palace," said Tyren. "They have the others in prison. Xu just got this off before they captured him….they are set to die tomorrow."

Toph blinked once in surprise.

"We need to go," she said.

The two of them rushed off towards the house. There would be no time to pack up. They would tell the Bei Fong's good-bye and get to the Fire Nation as quickly as possible.

The white rose lay on the bench, forgotten, behind them.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Why must you go," asked Lao desperately.

Tyren and Toph were anxious to be on the road and didn't have time to explain.

"No time Dad!" said Toph. "But we need to go now it's urgent."

Lao sighed in defeat.

"Fine," he said. "Be safe, though. And you must come back!"

"As soon as were done," Tyren assured them.

Without further ado, Toph and Tyren turned their eel hounds and bounded off towards the Fire Nation. Lao and Poppy's good-bye's were lost to the wind and they were deep within the forest within minutes.

"Wait Toph," Tyren called, an idea suddenly hitting him.

"What?" she demanded.

"We are never going to get there by tomorrow," Tyren said reasonably.

"Not if we keep talking," huffed Toph.

"Look I think I can get us there faster," said Tyren.

"How?" asked Toph suspiciously.

"Well you know I can…transport to other places," said Tyren slowly.

Toph immediately caught on and her eyes narrowed.

"Can you go that far?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Tyren truthfully. "But we aren't getting there before tomorrow unless I try."

Toph let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, let's do it then."

The two dismounted their eel hounds and Tyren stood very close to Toph.

"Have you ever brought someone along before?" she asked nervously.

"No," said Tyren.

He quickly grabbed onto Tyren and pulled hard on Toph, acting like he was dragging her through a doorway.

Toph thought the experience was as bad as flying.

She felt like she was zooming down a cave at top speeds. It felt like cold air was whipping at her face and she could hear something distantly echoing.

And just before Toph could yell anything, they stopped.

Toph felt the familiar Fire Nation ground and looked up at the palace, impressed.

"Nice job," she said dryly.

"Thanks," Tyren huffed.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Just a little winded," said Tyren, shrugging the feeling off.

"Well how do we get in?" asked Toph.

"I thought that would be obvious for someone with your record," smiled Tyren. He motioned to the door were two guards stood alone.

"That easy, huh?" she asked.

"No one expects anyone to use the front door," reasoned Tyren.

"True," said Toph.

Without any warning to Tyren, Toph skillfully knocked both guards onto their knees with two quick motions and knocked them out with an earth pillar to the teeth a piece. Tyren heard their teeth smack together from his position.

"Nice," said Tyren.

"Well with _my record _it was easy," she said.

The two cautiously moved to the big doors.

"Well what do you know?" said Toph. "The door was already open."

There was a small crack in the door big enough for someone to fit through, one at a time.

"Convenient," said Tyren.

"Age before beauty," mocked Toph.

Tyren chuckled and entered.

The Fire Nation palace had been changed to a war bunker.

Men lined the walls and all major catapults were out and ready for use. To make it look even worse it seemed they were adding to the already large wall surrounding the palace.

"Separatists," Toph hissed as she and Tyren ducked behind some cover.

"Lots of them," muttered Tyren.

"Hey who is that at the door?" one of the guards shouted. "Someone go check on those two."

"Crap we should've cleaned up the bodies," said Toph angrily.

"We'll have to move fast," said Tyren.

"Let's go," hissed Toph.

"Wait!" said Tyren quickly.

He grabbed Toph by the arms and pinned her to the wall. With a grabbing motion he pulled a shadow over them and stood stock still.

Four guards rushed past them on the way to the door.

"That was close," breathed Toph.

"Yeah," muttered Tyren.

"Invisibility?"

"More new parlor tricks," grinned Tyren.

"Come on," said Toph pushing through Tyren to lead the way up the steps hugging a part of the castle.

They made their way about halfway up when I beam from a sentry began shining towards them.

"Hide," hissed Tyren.

He gripped Toph and once again brought a shadow over them like a blanket.

The light paused for a few seconds on them and then continued around the courtyard.

"Alright, now where do we go from here?" asked Toph.

Tyren scanned the towers and found Zuko's chambers. The lights were still on.

"We'll go by Zuko's," he said. "Someone's got to be in there."

Toph nodded and the two continued up the tower steps.

They couldn't know what they were running towards.

_I'm running out of scary music to play. Hey thank you all for waiting for this chapter it is up now and I hope you enjoyed it. Here is a teaser for next chapter…just kidding! I don't like teasers. They ruin the fun. Or at least they ruin my fun. HAHA! And I also have a mission for you the readers! Maybe you can help me out with this. I have been looking for a good story with shadowbenders in it. But when you story search shadowbenders, shadowbending, or shadowbend nothing comes up except these stories with like three chapters. What the heck. Can you, the readers, find me any stories that are good, coming along and still posting with shadowbending in it besides mine? I can't find any anywhere! Thanks and R&R for me_


	17. The Monster Revealed

_Alright, I'm back on my regular computer and I can really start typing now! YES!! So, hope you all have enjoyed this so far because it will only get better. At least…I think its better. Lol, here we go! _

**Chapter 17: The Monster Revealed**

**Zuko 25d ASC**

**Palace Bedroom**

Zuko looked up at his predicament for the hundredth time.

He was humiliated and angered that he was chained up in his own bedroom, unable to move anything but his head. Guards surrounded him and seemed to be in perfect control of the situation.

He didn't know what they had done with Mai but someone would pay for her suffering.

"Who is in charge?" Zuko demanded for the umpteenth time.

Once again the guards ignored him completely.

"I demand you let me speak to your commander," spat Zuko.

"As you wish _Fire Lord," _hissed a voice from the doorway.

The guards snapped to attention and a cloaked figure casually walked in.

"So are you going to challenge me fairly now?" asked Zuko heatedly. "Or do you still need your cronies to do all the work?"

"Now, now, now," chuckled the figure, mockingly. "My men do not appreciate rudeness. They would most surely take it out on your beautiful wife." The figure grinned at Zuko threateningly.

Zuko breathed in deeply and met the figures gaze.

"If you touch her…," Zuko warned.

"What will you do _Fire Lord _Zuko?" growled the figure. His mask of control had slipped. "Will you banish me? Throw me in the dungeons? Please, you have no control here."

It was true. Zuko's hands were chained to the walls behind him, giving no slack for him to try to firebend. He was also forced down by a separate set of chains that kept him from getting his feet out to firebend, too.

"What do you want with me and my family?" growled Zuko.

The figure let out a laugh.

"Are you really that stupid?" he chuckled. "What does everyone hate you for? You brought the greatest Nation in the world to its _knees. _I intend to build it back up. But don't worry…you won't be dying alone." the figure grinned again.

"What are you talking about?" hissed Zuko.

"This is the deal Fire Lord," smirked the figure. "If you play nice and die with some _honor _tomorrow, your precious wife will not die. The same goes for your Avatar and Southern Water Tribe warrior friend. They will be dying with you. If you all cause no trouble, none of your girlfriends get hurt. You try to escape; we kill them all at the same time."

Zuko mind whirled, trying to find some loophole in the plan.

"And your other two friends will not be able to escape either," said the figure darkly.

"What friends?" Zuko growled. He would not give up Toph and Tyren no matter what.

"We haven't found him yet but he is obviously very skilled, it's no surprise he got into your little circle. And the blind girl won't be so hard just, some strategic planning," the figure said not paying attention to Zuko. "She will die swiftly, but your other friends…oh he will suffer."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Zuko.

"Revenge," said the figure simply. "It's all that has kept me going lately."

"Revenge for what?" Zuko yelled.

"Why for so much pain _Fire Lord Zuko," _said the figure removing his hood.

Zuko's eyes went wide. _Oh no…_

"And I completely intend to return the favor," smirked Jun.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Toph, Tyren**

**Battlement stairs **

Tyren's breathing was getting heavier and heavier as the stairs seemed to never end.

After many wrong turns and wrong doors, Toph and Tyren were trudging forward on their fourth flights of stairs.

"Are you sure Zuko's room is this way?" panted Tyren.

"Pretty sure," grunted Toph. "Why are you so out of breath?"

"Oh…I…don't know," said Tyren sarcastically. "We've only gone up…three…no wait four…flights of stairs."

"Never bothered you before," Toph grumbled.

Tyren angrily bit back his retort.

Truthfully, being so…out of it was what was killing him. Maybe transporting both of them so far had done more to his body than he had thought it would.

"Come on we're almost there," said Toph.

Tyren looked up at the lit window that they were drawing closer to.

"What are we going to do when we get in there?" asked Toph.

Tyren paused, having not really thought about that.

"Well what are the chances they're all in prison right next to each other?" he asked.

Toph and Tyren looked at each other.

"No chance," they said at the same time.

"So we'll just have to move fast," said Tyren. "I mean how hard could it be? Knock out the guards; break the first one out, and on to the next right?"

"Right," said Toph confidently. "This will be cake."

An arrow mad a _thwap _sound as it landed an inch from Tyren's nose.

"They're climbing the stairs," a guard shouted from below. "Get the archers over here and send up a team to intercept!"

Men began scrambling on the ground far below Toph and Tyren and the two took off, double time to Zuko's chambers.

"_Right,"_ grumbled Tyren, "_Cake!" _

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jun walked confidently down the hallways of the Fire Nation Palace.

With a wide grin he remembered it was _his _Fire Nation Palace now.

_Fire Lord Jun._

It sounded so appropriate to Jun.

After so much that the Fire Lord-_Ex _Fire Lord had done to him it seemed only fair. And Zuko's death would only be fair to the Fire Nation. It had no business being ruled by a coward like Zuko.

"Zuko…," Jun hissed under his breath.

Taking sides with the Avatar, stabbing everyone in the back, crippling the great Fire Nation, and stupid enough to anger his most important asset…his greatest threat.

Jun stood in front of the royal paintings of the past Fire Lords.

Sozin's portrait still stood in the center, glaring down at Jun.

Jun imagined himself in Sozin's place; ruler of the greatest nation ever, expanding and letting no one stand in his way, ruling with an iron fist, keeping the Avatar at bay…

Jun smiled and imagined his own face in place of Sozin.

He would do the one thing no Fire Lord had been able to do. He would kill the Avatar.

And Jun planned to have his own revenge against the…stranger.

Jun closed his eyes angrily as the stranger's smirking face re-entered his mind. The stranger always smirked, had always been confident, and had been more skilled than Jun had imagined.

That Agni Kai had been the biggest humiliation of his life.

Even worse was that Jun had not been able to discover anything about him.

No one knew or had heard of the confident stranger, so skilled in fighting he could take out a master firebender without bending once himself.

There had been no past connections to try and use to get to the stranger. There hadn't even been a name to start looking for.

But Jun planned to get him now. He would have his revenge.

The smirk again plastered Jun's face.

"Sir!" yelled a guard running up behind him.

"What is it commander?" Jun spat.

"Two strangers were seen running up the stairs on the battlement. They matched the description of the people you were looking for."

Jun's smile widened.

So the coward had finally come out of hiding.

"Where were they headed?" demanded Jun.

"Towards the Fire Lord's room," answered the commander.

"Ex Fire Lord, commander," corrected Jun. "And I suggest you get as many men as possible to that room…now!"

"Yes sir!" the guard ran off to carry out the command.

Jun watched him go with satisfaction. He would get his revenge.

He looked back one last time at the portraits of the Fire Lords.

With a quick punch the portrait of Zuko became consumed with flames.

"You and your friends are finished Zuko," hissed Jun.

Then with ease Jun walked slowly to Zuko's room, the picture still smoldering behind him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Holy crap!!" yelled Tyren.

A group of arrows had snuck over Toph's rock wall had barely missed Tyren's head.

"Can you keep me from getting skewered please?!" he yelled.

"Sorry oh powerful winded warrior," shouted back Toph. "But I am doing this all by myself you know."

"We're almost there!" shouted Tyren.

A fire ball crumbled the rock wall around the two.

"Crap!" shouted Toph. She tried desperately to bring up another wall. The combination of fire and arrows were coming too fast…

Tyren grabbed Toph's arm and for the second time tonight, Toph felt like she was flying backwards.

When she recovered from the unpleasant feeling and looked around she found herself face first to a spear.

"Nice," Toph grumbled. "You put us right into another battalion."

"Hey," defended Tyren. "I didn't know they'd have a whole army keeping Zuko in lock and key."

Toph spotted Sparky chained down to the wall a little away.

"How's it going Sparky?" she asked.

"Well that depends. How's the escape plan coming?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Oh really good," said Toph.

"Oh…then I'm great."

With two quick movements the guards holding back Toph and Tyren were thrown back and the two friends began fighting the remaining soldiers.

The Separatist soldiers were hopelessly outmatched.

Toph was sending people flying left and right and Tyren wasn't even bothering to bend. They all rushed the two only to be blown back by a combination of earth and Tyren's fighting expertise.

More soldiers began piling in from the doorway.

"Were the heck do you find this many people?" demanded Tyren. He ducked a spear stab and used the guards own momentum to launch him into his comrade who was winding up to take out Tyren's legs.

"How do you fit them all into one room is what I want to know," laughed Toph. She brought up a handful of small pebbles and shot them out in a circle. Fourteen guards dropped like flies, large welts already on their heads.

Suddenly Toph and Tyren were cut off from any guards by a large wall of fire.

"Someone let Sparky out?" muttered Toph.

"I think that's enough," said Jun from the doorway, still standing in his firebending stance.

Tyren raised an eyebrow at the entrance of Jun.

"Oh…you…," he said, not expecting a familiar face.

"You seem surprised," said Jun coldly.

"Well I thought the first beat down was enough," said Tyren, grinning.

Jun's face contorted with rage. The stranger was smirking _again! _

"Don't smirk at me," Jun growled. "I'm in control here, not you."

"Really," said Toph, palming her fist. "Let's see who's in control after I beat your…"

"Try to make a move and all of your friends will die at the same time," said Jun. "I guess you could save this one," he nodded towards Zuko, "if you were lucky but seven is impossible."

Toph grunted but didn't move forward.

"Good," said Jun. "Now that we understand each other."

Jun fired a blast at Tyren so fast; the shadowbender only just missed losing his ear.

"Hey!" shouted Toph, taking a stance.

"You stay out of this little girl," barked Jun. "This is between me and him. If you intervene, your friends die!"

"Stay back Toph," said Tyren. He wasn't grinning anymore but he still seemed calm. "I'll handle this."

Jun laughed.

"You can't handle anything here."

With a few more powerful punches, Jun launched quick blasts at Tyren.

Tyren dodged these by simply shifting his weight around, but was forced to dive out of the way of the powerful double kick that followed.

"You are quick aren't you?" Jun barked. "Still think you can beat me though?"

Tyren dodged the next two arcing kicks and moved within inches of Jun.

"I don't think so," hissed Jun. With a quick breath he breathed fire at Tyren's face.

Tyren was forced to lean back and then jump back for space to avoid the kick that came down hard.

"That's new," said Tyren.

"I know what to do to beat you now," grinned Jun.

"Really? Then I guess you know that I can beat you with my eyes closed?" Tyren said taking his shadowbending stance.

Jun was not aware that Tyren was a shadowbender and simply laughed at him.

"Don't you realize it yet?" Jun laughed. "You _can't _win! Even if you beat me here and now, which I doubt, do you really think my men will let your friend's just waltz out?"

Tyren closed his eyes in frustration.

He knew that Jun had him beat. If Tyren shadowbent, everyone would freak out, and his friends would all be executed. If he beat Jun without bending, everyone still died. If he let Jun beat him, maybe they would survive…or at least, some of them.

Jun quickly shot a ball of fire at Tyren while he wasn't paying attention.

Tyren saw and heard it coming. He could have gotten out of the way. But he knew it would be a futile gesture.

The ball of heat struck him strait in the chest and he slammed into the wall with a satisfying _crack! _

Toph let out a gasp, but Tyren did not seem to hurt. He stood up and took a deep breath, glaring down Jun.

"You seem to have learned," grinned Jun evilly. "I don't lose."

The next two punches also found their mark and a flying kick sent Tyren bouncing of Zuko's wooden bed frame.

"You had to pick the hard, solid wood bed frame didn't you Zuko," laughed Tyren weakly.

Jun's face contorted and he kneed Tyren hard in the gut. Then he pushed him back and plastered him to the wall with a two handed fired ball punch.

"You're a fool," Jun spat, "Putting all your friend's lives in front of your own. Why would you waste your own life for other?"

Tyren didn't respond; just stood back up.

Jun's eyes narrowed.

"You will die."

To Jun's surprise, his fireball was blocked by a large rock.

Toph was standing in her ready position, tears running down her face.

"No," she whispered. "I won't let you do this."

"Toph," warned Tyren.

"I won't let you just lie down and die," Toph yelled. "He'll kill us all anyway!"

"Guards," Jun spat. "End her!"

A guard cocked an arrow and fired at Toph as the other guards distracted her. She didn't see the arrow released. She didn't know it was coming towards her.

"NO!" yelled Tyren.

The arrow imploded and sent everyone flying backwards.

Jun looked in amazement at were the arrow had been.

"What…?" he breathed, not knowing what he had seen. Then he saw Tyren.

He was shaking with fury. The muscles were working in every part of his body, his teeth were clenched together, and his eyes…his eyes were pitch black.

Jun tried to call out to the guards to kill the prisoners, but his voice caught in his thought. He couldn't get the words out.

Tyren didn't give him any time to find his voice.

With a violent shoving motion, Jun and all of his guards were thrown out of the room by their own shadows.

All the men stumbled and rolled around the garden, and their armor and weapons spilled around with them.

Similar explosions revealed that every Separatist solider had been unceremoniously thrown out of the palace and into the garden.

Jun looked up at Tyren perched on the ledge of the window, many floors above him. With a stab of fear, he realized he had bitten off more than he could chew. Jun regretted ever coming back to the palace.

Tyren, faced still lined with fury, lifted his hands and threw pushed out. A wall of shadows came rolling towards all the soldiers.

Some tried to run, but none escaped. The shadows overtook everyone. When the smoke cleared no one was left in the garden area except Jun, who was curled in the fetal position, staring into some horrors that he alone could see.

Toph looked down on the carnage and realized with a jolt, Tyren was not there anymore as well.

She breathed in heavily and decided she would go release the others for now.

She just hoped Tyren could take care of himself.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When the shadows cleared from Tyren's vision, he didn't recognize where he was.

Then the pain made him forget to worry about where he was.

A small…very small…part of Tyren's mind found humor at the fact that he seemed to find new depths of pain. Every time he thought he had felt the worst, worse always came.

That part of his mind was extinguished quickly by the suffering.

Hot knives were stabbing every part of Tyren's body; his brain was thudding against his skull, and his blood had to be boiling on the inside of his body.

There was no other way he could feel this way.

"_Tyren," _something whispered.

Tyren tried to answer the voice. He tried to ask if it could stop the pain.

"_Tyren."_

_Help me! _Tyren tried to form the words but his mouth wouldn't move.

"_Tyren…" _the voice faded away.

Tyren got his voice to work, but it didn't form words.

He screamed bloody murder into the night sky. Surly everyone in the world could here him. Someone would come looking.

Tyren's tormented screams continued on and on and on. Tyren felt something hot and metallic…blood, seeping around his torn throat, but he didn't stop screaming.

It hurt too much.

Tyren just continued to scream and then he started flopping around like a fish out of water.

Tyren wanted to die.

_Snap! _

Tyren's jaw broke from the screaming. It didn't stop him from continuing to scream.

Some birds took off, cawing annoyingly, from the surrounding trees. There were so many birds that they seemed to block out the moon.

Then Tyren felt the pain push. It seemed to shoot out like spikes on the front of his skin.

Tyren's eyes went black from the pain.

The pain reached its peak and then…it just stopped.

Tyren laid face down in the grass, listening to nothing put the wind blow and the birds fade away. Then he heard his heart, sounding like a failing drum.

_Bum, Bum_

Tyren couldn't feel his body at all. Everything had shut down.

_Bum. Bum._

His mind was blissfully blank. It was kind of nice.

_Bum…Bum…_

Death really was easy. And the pain had stopped at least.

_Bum…………Bu-_

Tyren's heart stopped beating.

Strange…he was still aware of what was going on.

"_Tyren…," _hissed a voice.

Someone walked next to Tyren. He was wearing black boots similar to Tyren's and a black cloak.

"Tyren, what are you doing?" the voice chuckled. The laugh sounded like a hiss.

Tyren didn't even bother trying to answer. He was dead anyway right?

A cold hand was roughly placed over his still heart.

The cold voice laughed again.

"Now, now Tyren," he hissed. "You can't die on me now."

The man seized the front of Tyren's robes and shook him. Tyren's limp body simply flopped around and stayed dead.

"Wakey, wakey," hissed the man again.

_Slap! Snap! _

The ferocity of the slap across Tyren's face broke the other side of his jaw. It also seemed to jumpstart his body.

_Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum. _

Tyren's heart was going a million miles an hour now. Everything else seemed to still be switched off.

"Good boy," chuckled the cloaked figure standing over Tyren. His cowl covered his face, but he was a big person, well muscled and tall.

He dropped Tyren hard onto his back and crouched down next to Tyren. He whistled and laughed again.

"You're a little worse for wear aren't you? Oh well, I guess I'm to blame for that."

Tyren wanted to ask the man what he ment, but he couldn't make his mouth work…and his jaw was still broken.

"I guess you're wondering who I am…" hissed the figure.

_Yes _Tyren thought. There was something familiar about this man. Had he met him before?

"Well since you can't talk I'll take that as a yes," the person hissed again.

Slowly the man raised his gloved hands to his hood and slowly removed it.

Even tough Tyren couldn't, he wanted to scream out in fear.

The face from his dreams suddenly came flooding back to him.

He had seen it in his dreams but he had been so scared because it had been…his face!

He looked exactly like Tyren, to a t. Except his eyes.

His eyes were black as night.

"Why aren't we a couple of pretty faces?" the evil Tyren grinned.

_OH NO!!! Evil people after evil people, EVERYWERE. It's like a never ending cycle…someone should do something about that. Oh well…why go against the flow. Lol. I hope you guys liked this one because the next ones are going to be really good. And I apologize for all you people that don't like the dark and scary. This chapter was a little bit dark. I am sorry. But I liked it! R&R and tell me what you think. I live for reviews. And give me ideas too. I will need them. Thanks! _


	18. Setting the Stage

_Alright, time for the next round. As you all read in the last chapter we have a very confusing thing to deal with. EVIL TYREN!! So for you all wondering what that is about…here you go. _

**Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Zuko, Mai, Toph, Xu 26d ASC**

**War Room **

**Chapter18: Setting the Stage**

Everyone had gathered in the war room for the meeting about the nights events.

Toph had freed Zuko and the others quickly with no presence from any guards and found them extremely pissed, but otherwise unhurt.

But now they all needed to know what had happened.

"So then, as you know, I released you guys and here we are," Toph finished firing off everything that had happened in the past few hours.

Aang shook his head and sighed, exasperated at how things were turning out.

"That doesn't make sense," he muttered. "Why would Tyren just disappear? Or, at least, why isn't he back yet?"

No one answered but a feeling of dread spread across the table.

"Look, Tyren can take care of himself," reasoned Suki. "I'm sure he's fine wherever he is."

"I want to know what happened here," said Toph. "How did these guys get you with out any fight?"

Everyone else looked at each other.

"Well…we just weren't expecting an attack," said Zuko.

"I was in garden with Aang," said Katara. "We were talking when something hit us both in the neck and I lost consciousness. When I woke up I was in a jail cell."

"Jun talked to me," said Aang. "He told me he planned to kill me."

"I was in some dungeon," said Mai. "I woke up there. I didn't know what had happened because I was taking a nap at the time, so I expected to wake up in my room."

"We tried to fight," said Sokka. "But there were way too many guards. And we had no help! I was hoping there would be some guards to help hold off the attack but there weren't enough."

"They eventually just beat us down," Suki said.

"And I held them off for awhile," said Zuko. "My office is going to have to be redecorated."

"And I took off to the messenger hawks to get the word to you guys," said Xu. "I was lucky. They got me the minute that hawk was out the window."

"And there are no lasting problems?" Aang asked Zuko.

"No," said Zuko. "Nothing was decreed or ordered by Jun. As far as everyone else knows, nothing happened tonight."

"Which leave us one question," said Toph.

"Where the hell is Tyren?" finished Xu.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tyren couldn't believe his eyes.

Actually Tyren didn't want to believe his eyes.

It was stranger than looking into a mirror or any other reflection. This was so much more real.

Tyren studied the face…his face…in front of him.

It had to be his face. The jaw was the exact same slant and point, the eyebrows and eyes were placed exactly the same, the hair had the look of being blown backwards, and he had Tyren's cocky grin plastered onto his face.

The only difference was his eyes.

They were like unending pools of forever. Tyren could actually see his own face reflecting in their black depths.

The eyes put the night sky to shame.

"Oh, how I wish you could talk right now," laughed the evil version of Tyren. "I can only imagine the things you want to say…the things you want to ask."

Tyren agreed with…himself…in his head.

Oh this was confusing. Tyren knew if he could feel anything he would be feeling a massive headache.

"Well I can pretend," evil Tyren chuckled. "It's all too easy to guess what you would say. Let's see where to begin…? How about…are you real?"

Tyren wanted to say yes but couldn't get the words to form.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," evil Tyren chuckled.

"The answer is that I am so real. You remember Tyren…from the dreams. _I am so very real…," _evil Tyren hissed the last words.

Tyren continued to stare, immobile, at the stars.

"Yes, I was never just a dream," evil Tyren hissed. His eyes seemed to flash with…pain, annoyance, and fury at the same time. The confident mask returned immediately.

"Next question," evil Tyren thought for a moment. "Ah, how about how did this happen? That is a pretty common question I'm sure."

Once again Tyren agreed in his head but could not voice this.

"Well I will tell you it was not easy," said evil Tyren, looking up at the moon. "It was probably the most difficult thing I will ever do." He paused to breathe in deeply.

"But I do believe it was worth it," evil Tyren sighed.

"Anyway, I don't know exactly when I came to be. Or how I came to be for that matter," he paused and chuckled to some joke in his head. "But I did come to be. I did eventually start thinking, and wondering, and deciding."

Tyren digested this, realizing that this evil thing had been festering inside him for some time.

"I started thinking that you weren't doing what you could with this life of yours…I started wondering why you weren't testing all the possibilities with your extreme gifts…deciding that I would have to step in to fix you," evil Tyren grinned down at Tyren again.

"When I started realizing these things is when I decided I would live," he continued on. "I would step in and take the life that you were squandering to...what? Friends? A _normal life_? Your past? Some misguided love? A waste!" evil Tyren spat.

Tyren had never wished he could move as much as he did at this moment. He needed to stop this…evil him that was insane!

"You refused to use the amazing powers you were given,' evil Tyren was now glaring at Tyren, no trace of a smirk on his face. "I hated you. Wasting a life that you had been given. I wanted it more than you ever did. I wanted to find a way to come out. So I did," the smirk returned to evil Tyren's face.

"I found you had so much energy, that I could use that. So I took it from you. I made myself stronger, and weakened you. But I must tell you it was a tedious project. I could not afford to take so much that you would notice. I mean when I did start taking a lot you immediately realized a difference, though you didn't know what the problem was…,"

Tyren recalled his unexplained fatigue that had been annoying him.

"I also couldn't take so much that I killed you," went on evil Tyren. "Yes I couldn't have you dying on me yet. So I could only take small amounts, and not all at the same time. But I was patient. I was willing to wait to get my chance to live. That's where I also found a way to…_communicate _with you."

Flashes of the nightmares that had plagued him for weeks replayed in Tyren's franticly working mind.

"But you never recognized me for what I was," evil Tyren said, almost sounding bitter. "You tried to shut me away. You didn't want to be a monster. You wanted to be the hero." Evil Tyren laughed a dark, humorless laugh. "Look at where being a hero got you."

Tyren once again to do something…anything…but it was futile.

"So I stayed in secret, living at the bottom of your mind. I took what energy I could get and I learned. I know so much about you Tyren. You really are an interesting mind to sit in on," evil Tyren grinned. "You think differently than some do. You are much more…knowing. But you don't listen to yourself enough. That makes you stupid."

Tyren was angrily trying to kick start his body, all the while never missing a word his evil counter part said.

"And then I found the full extent of my powers," evil Tyren breathed. "I found when you were stressed…or when you _wanted _to hurt somebody…when you wanted them dead, I found out I could take over. I used that to great effect at good old Zu-Zu's wedding I think," evil Tyren laughed again. "It got us quite a bit of publicity."

Tyren hated how he said us.

"I also found I could work in the Shadow World," evil Tyren said. "But I was much more…limited there. I did find out something useful however. I found that when you brought others in there, I could steal all of their energy. Your little friends…Xu and Suki…they were lucky you showed up when you did. I don't know what but when your there…it hurt to be there with you." evil Tyren looked Tyren up and down with a rekindled interest.

_GET UP! _Tyren thought furiously to himself. _STOP HIM!!_

"But it was the Shadow World that let me come out of you," evil Tyren said. His eye's narrowed and he smiled as though he was remembering a fond memory.

"Your anger came at such an opportune moment in the palace. It was really all too easy to steal the life force out of all those guards," evil Tyren licked his fingers one by one.

Tyren felt sick to his stomach.

"And they were just the jumpstart I needed to get my own body," evil Tyren breathed. "And I am just the same as you. Look," evil Tyren lifted Tyren to his feet, supporting him with a shadow.

"But I am much more mastered then you," evil Tyren snarled.

With a jolt Tyren was smashed into a rock wall behind him. He blinked quickly and then was smacked side to side.

"Much more efficient then you," evil Tyren hissed.

With another smack Tyren was propelled into the air. As gravity started to drag him down another tendril forced him into the ground at a very high speed.

"And much more wiling to use my powers to a full extent," evil Tyren said, standing over Tyren again.

Tyren was surprised he wasn't unconscious…or dead again.

"And now I can slip really easy into your life," evil Tyren hissed. "Technically I have no more use for you."

Evil Tyren lifted a deadly sharp tendril up and brought it down on Tyren.

Tyren was waiting for the death stroke to it him but it stopped a centimeter from his body.

"But then that wouldn't be half as much fun," hissed evil Tyren, inches from Tyren's face. "I'll leave you here to get over yourself. Then, whenever you feel up to checking, you can see what I've done to your life."

_No, no, no, _thought Tyren desperately.

Evil Tyren stood up and put his black hood of his traveling cloak back on.

"I'll make sure to say hello to Toph," he laughed, and disappeared in a swish of his cloak.

_NO, NO, NO _Tyren yelled in his head.

_Need to get up…need to get up…HAVE to get up. _

Tyren's finger twitched on the ground beside him.

But then blackness crept in on the sides of his vision.

_NO, No, no…_

Unconsciousness took over.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Katara stood on the balcony of her bedroom; much like Aang had the morning before.

Tonights events had left her tired, and she brushed her hair, looking up at the night sky.

It was the darkest night she had seen in awhile. There seemed to be no stars shining; it was like they had all just been extinguished. The moon was the only light tonight.

The wind blew in Katara's face and she removed her hair from her eyes.

There in the courtyard was Tyren.

Katara was puzzled but pleased to see her friend.

"Tyren!" Katara called from the balcony.

She didn't expect him to hear her from way up on her balcony but he looked up and waved back at her.

Katara noticed he was wearing a big black traveling cloak that made him look twice as big as he already was. _I wonder where he got that, _she thought to herself.

With a jolt, Katara realized he wasn't there anymore.

"Strange," muttered Katara.

"Hello Katara," muttered Tyren's voice from behind her.

Katara almost fell of the balcony, and would have if Tyren's strong grip hadn't kept her from going.

"Jeez!!" she yelled. "How in the…you sure got up here fast."

"Well…I can be quick when I want to," Tyren grinned.

Katara rolled her eyes and went back into the bedroom. Tyren had just ment to scare her.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Oh that doesn't matter," scoffed Tyren, standing very close to her. "What does is where I'm going…actually where we are going."

Katara realized he still had his grip on her.

"Tyren what are you talking about?" Katara demanded.

"Come on Katara…I know you know what I'm talking about," smirked Tyren.

Katara turned to face him but realized he was so close that she was almost knocked onto the bed.

"Tyren what the hell are you doing?" she demanded.

"Oh come on Katara. You aren't the tiniest bit tired of Aang?" Tyren grinned.

They were close enough Katara could feel his breath.

"Tyren…," Katara stopped. She had seen his eyes.

His _pitch black eyes_!

She raised her hands to get some water from the basin on her table when a hard hit from behind knocked her out.

Suki was wondering around the outside wall of the palace.

Rebuilding would take all night but the men seemed to know what they're doing.

Sokka had wanted the both of them to just get to sleep but Suki had found that impossible. Something was bugging her and she just couldn't sit down.

"Can we help you Miss Suki?" asked one of the workers, recognizing her and not knowing why she would be out here.

"What?" Suki asked distracted. "Oh, no, you all are doing a wonderful job. Keep it up."

"Thank you ma'am," said the worker.

"But could you reinforce that wall over there," Suki felt better thinking of something useful. "They seemed to have torn that one down completely and it protects are east end."

"I'll get the men to get right on that," the worker said.

"Thanks," said Suki walking down the rest of the wall.

"Distracted Suki?" came a voice from the shadow of one of the sheds that had cropped up during the coup.

Suki jumped and turned but relaxed when she saw it was only Tyren.

"Oh hey, Tyren, I didn't see you there. When did you get back?"

"I stepped in a few minutes ago," said Tyren. "What are you doing out here?"

"Well…I just couldn't sleep," said Suki.

"Are you afraid of getting attacked again?" Tyren grinned.

Suki grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"Maybe I'm a little paranoid."

Tyren laughed. Suki felt goose bumps crawl up her arms.

This didn't sound like Tyren's normal laugh. It was cold, unfeeling…and dark.

"Where did you get a cloak?" Suki asked in a small voice.

Tyren laughed again. Suki tensed, ready to run.

"Maybe being paranoid is a good thing," Tyren chuckled.

Blackness overtook Suki.

"So you are alright Ty Lee?" asked Mai.

"Oh yeah just great," said Ty Lee smiling. "The men were very nice. And quiet once I knocked them out. Although they really didn't talk that much anyway…I wonder if maybe we would have gotten to know each other better. I thought we were getting along. What kind of-,"

"Well as long as you're alright," cut in Mai.

"Yep, just amazing," Ty Lee put on her biggest smile.

Mai sighed.

"You really need to…somber up once in awhile. Having too much happiness might kill you."

"Maybe you should be happier," replied Ty Lee. "That much gloominess is contagious." Ty Lee made a face and giggled at herself.

"Having fun?" came a voice from behind the two girls.

Mai and Ty Lee turned to find Tyren leaning against the wall down the hallway.

"Just barrels," said Mia. "Where have you been?"

"Checking up on everyone," said Tyren.

"Oh well that's nice of you. Has anyone ever told you you're very tall?" Ty Lee was talking very quickly.

Mai's eye's narrowed at the sight of Tyren's big cloak. _Where had he gotten that?_

"Wow, did you know your eyes are black," Ty Lee said, inches from Tyren's face.

Mai stiffened, immediately alert. _Black eyes? _

Tyren just grinned.

"Guess the secret is out then?"

Shadows pounced and Ty Lee screamed.

Toph was sitting in bed but not sure she would be able to fall asleep.

Tyren still wasn't back yet and Toph was starting to worry. She hoped that he hadn't done anything stupid to those people. He had certainly done a real number on Jun.

He was now locked up in a cart on the way to the mental facility, screaming at things only he could see.

Toph sighed and held her hand in her head in frustration.

Why would he just leave?

"Toph?" came Tyren's voice from her doorway.

"Tyren," breathed Toph.

She turned and gave him a giant hug.

"Where in the heck were you?" she demanded.

"I was taking care of things. And I found out something wonderful…and horrible."

"What is it?" Toph asked looking concerted.

"Do you remember the day I showed you how I could create things with the shadows?" Tyren asked.

"Yes," said Toph, confused.

"Well…look," Tyren said.

He passed his hands over Toph's eyes. A shadow passed over them as well and stuck to her eyes.

When she opened them Toph could see.

"Oh my…," she breathed.

"I can help you see," said Tyren.

Toph looked at Tyren. And she really saw him.

Or what Tyren wanted her to see.

She saw a handsome face with pretty brown eyes and jet black hair.

"I can see," she breathed.

Suddenly a noise sounded from downstairs and Toph and Tyren stiffened.

"No time to enjoy it," said Tyren quickly. "We need to get away. More separatist have stormed the palace. We're meeting up with the others. Come on!"

Toph followed obediently, never stopping once to look around in wonderment with her new eyesight.

To her, Tyren kept a concentrated face forward as they rushed out of the Fire Nation palace. To Toph's eyes Tyren was still the same.

But in reality evil Tyren was grinning like a hyena when he pinned a note on the Palace door as he rushed out into the forest.

It had been all too easy.

_Oh no!!!! Evil Tyren is winning!!! Not good for you guys who love a winning good guy. If you're a fan of the villain…well then you are probably having the time of your life. Glad you like it. SO what do you guys think is goanna happen. I wanna know what your…guesses are for future chapters. And my next post might be a little while away. I'm posting two chapters at the same time because there is a part 1 and a part 2 and I want them to go together. R&R. Oh and thanks to all readers who don't review. I know your out there I can tell by story traffic. You are appreciated. THANKS!!!_


	19. The Battle Pt 1

_Alright, here we go. I decided to post the two parts separate. Add some suspense right? Thanks to all you reviewers and people who give me ideas. It's all appreciated. What will happen to Tyren? What will evil Tyren do next? And what will the rest of the gang do when they realize what has happened? Find out!!!!_

**Chapter 19: The Battle Part 1**

**Aang, Zuko 26d ASC**

**Hallways **

Aang and Zuko had finished stealing some food from the kitchen and had both decided to turn in for the night.

They both were looking forward to spending time with their girlfriends…or in Zuko's case his wife…now that their bellies were satisfied.

"So had Mai talked about having kids yet?" Aang asked as they walked down the hallway.

"No," Zuko shrugged. "Mai isn't really the kind of girl to ask or talk about that stuff. But I think we are going to try to have a family. I mean I will need an heir so…,"

"Right," agreed Aang.

"What about you and Katara?" asked Zuko, glancing at Aang. "I know you said you were going to propose soon.'

"Well…," Aang said uncertain. "I thought I had plucked up enough courage to do it tonight. But then Jun and the Separatists coming in kind of ruined it and now…I don't know."

"You should just do it," said Zuko. "I know she loves you."

"And I love her," said Aang, staring into space.

"Then you have nothing to lose," said Zuko.

The two of them turned to the last stretch of hallway.

"And really once you just grin and do it, it's not that bad," finished Zuko.

He paused when he realized Aang wasn't paying attention.

"Aang?"

Aang gestured wordlessly down the hallway.

A body was crumpled down about halfway there….right in front of Mai's room.

The two of them rushed to the body and turned it upwards to reveal…Ty Lee.

"Oh Spirits," breathed Zuko.

Ty Lee's whole body seemed to be covered in tiny cuts that were still bleeding.

"What happened to her?" asked a stunned Aang.

"Is she…," asked Zuko.

Aang put a hand over her heart.

"No, she's still with us," Aang said, relieved.

"Look at her," Zuko said, still stunned.

The more he looked the worse it seemed.

Tiny cuts that, at second glance he realized were quite deep were still oozing out blood. Already Ty Lee was in a pool of the stuff. Black bruises were also spotted around her body, and one of her leg seemed to be bent at a bad angle.

"This is really bad," said Aang. "We need to get doctors over here now!"

"DOCTOR," bellowed Zuko.

A guard immediately came running.

"What is it sir-HOLY-," the guard stopped when he saw Ty Lee.

"Get a doctor NOW!" shouted Zuko.

"Yes sir!" said the guard, looking slightly green.

Aang continued to make sure Ty Lee's pulse kept beating, wondering what horrible person could do this.

"How could this have happened?" he breathed.

"No one could have done this in a fair fight," said Zuko. "Some one snuck up on her."

"Zuko…," Aang said.

There was a lone dagger on the floor not two feet away.

"Mai," breathed Zuko.

He stood quickly and busted down the door to his and his wife's room.

It was empty.

"Mai!" shouted Zuko.

It only took a few sweeps of the room for him to assure himself that the room was vacant.

"She's not there," Zuko said angrily.

The doctor had finally arrived and was working on getting Ty Lee on a stretcher.

"Great Spirits, what has happened to this girl?" the doctor demanded.

"She was attacked," said Zuko, mind still whirling.

"Well excuse my bluntness My Lord but…obviously!" the doctor was almost hysterical. "This girl looked like someone tried to cut her like a fine cheese!"

"Just fix her doctor," said Zuko tersely.

"Yes My Lord," said the doctor turning away. "And I'll repopulate the dragons, too while I'm at it," he said quietly enough that no one could hear.

"Where would Mai be?" asked Aang.

"She wouldn't just leave a dagger behind," said Zuko. "Something happened!"

"Ok, we need to get the others and…," Aang paused when Zuko slowly moved forward.

A door at the end of the hallway was swinging back and forth in the wind.

There was a note held by a dagger on the door.

The dagger had blood on it.

Aang pulled it off and opened the letter.

His eyes moved up and down the words on the page, once, twice, three times.

"What does it say?" demanded Zuko.

Aang handed him the letter, his eyes staring at some horror he only knew.

Zuko read the words on the page.

With a look of incomparable fury he threw the letter to the ground and he and Aang ran to wake Sokka.

The letter said very little. Just two words…

_Good Luck _

And there was a picture on it.

It was a shadow.

And it was laughing.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Tyren**

**Unknown**

Tyren opened his eyes and blinked them into focus.

At first he thought that his body was still immobile, because he felt nothing at all.

Then the pain kicked in and Tyren knew that his body was working now.

He curled his fingers into a fist and slowly stretched out his legs. His muscles were yelling at him in protest, but he moved his legs up and down slowly, checking for any problems.

Tyren pushed himself to a sitting position, having to use his arms to keep himself up.

His jaw hung loosely, unhinged from his face. Tyren touched it gingerly and was given a stab of pain for his stupidity. The injury thumped dully in his head.

With stiff jerky movements Tyren began trying to pull himself to his feet, using rocks as leverage.

It was tough but he eventually got to his feet, leaning heavily on the rocks.

The world seemed to spin around Tyren; he couldn't tell which way was up or forward. He just stood there, letting the world revolve around him until it finally ceased.

It seemed darker than it had been before.

Tyren realized that was because there were no stars.

The moon was the only light.

Moon but no stars...

Tyren closed his eyes, fighting a headache that was building up.

He needed to plan. He needed to think.

First…first he needed to get back to the palace.

Yes, he needed to warn the others and make a plan. Together…maybe…they could take down his evil self. But first things first, he needed to get there.

Tyren took a few tentative steps forward, not trusting himself to teleport.

It was no use. He stumbled after the second step and fell on his hands and knees.

His head began pounding like a drum from the abrupt stop when he caught himself.

Still with much stiffness, Tyren pulled himself back to his feet by himself.

_Ok, so that won't work _he thought warily. So, there was only one other option.

Tyren concentrated, pushing his headache to the back of his mind, on the Fire Nation Palace. He concentrated on his friends, and how he would save them from the grinning demon that looked like him.

He concentrated…and jumped through the shadows.

It was the most uncomfortable teleport Tyren had ever had.

The shadows seemed to burn for some reason and when he jumped out at his destination, the cold air doubled that burn.

But he had succeeded.

The Fire Nation Palace was right in front of him, lit up brightly for the night.

Tyren took a haggard step forward when someone yelled at him.

"There he is!" the voice yelled gruffly.

Tyren turned towards the voice, confused when something pricked his arm.

_Ouch! _he thought dimly. The world seemed to have slowed down even more.

Tyren pulled out whatever had pricked him and threw it in the dirt.

Guards piled out of the gates coming towards him.

Tyren tried to move forward again, but found himself loosing his balance and landing face first in the dirt.

He was only conscious to see them stand next to him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tyren groggily stirred from his sleep.

When he opened his eyes he instantly regretted it. The bright lights gave him a headache.

Then he noticed that his jaw was fixed.

He moved it around a few times and it popped painfully, but otherwise seemed to be working.

"Hello," he called out weakly.

"So…you're up," came Zuko's voice.

"What the heck is going on?" asked Tyren.

"We were hoping you could answer that for us," said Aang. It was strange though…it didn't sound like Aang.

"Where the heck am I?" Tyren muttered.

"Why don't you open your eyes," said Zuko stiffly.

Tyren did so and blinked away the spots that danced in his vision.

When he could see clearly he wanted to yell in fury.

He was chained to a wall again, surrounded by bright candles in a metal box. Directly across from him stood Aang and Zuko in the window, looking at him with dead eyes.

"What the…What is going on!?" demanded Tyren.

"How could you Tyren?" Aang whispered. "Was it all a ploy? All of it?"

"What…are…you…talking…about!" Tyren demanded.

"I mean I could understand pretending for maybe a week… earning our trust. But then staying with us, laughing with us, doing things together…how heartless could you be?" Aang continued on.

"I didn't do…," Tyren began.

"Don't lie," Zuko cut in. "Lying to us will just make it worse…a lot worse."

"I don't get it," said Aang dully.

"How could you do that to Ty Lee?" Zuko demanded quietly.

Tyren stopped, his heart thudding painfully against his chest.

"What happened to Ty Lee?" he whispered.

"As if you don't know?" scoffed Zuko.

"She could die you know," commented Aang.

Tyren glared at the two of them.

"Why don't you fill me in because I seem to be the only one who doesn't know what is going on?"

"Where are they?" was all Zuko asked.

"They…why don't you be a little vaguer," Tyren said sarcastically.

The whole metal box shook when Zuko smashed his fists into the door.

"WHERE ARE MAI, KATARA, AND SUKI?!"

Tyren digested this painfully. He had been too late.

"I…I don't know Zuko," Tyren said. "I wasn't here I was…"

"I said DON'T LIE," Zuko yelled. "Someone _saw _you here. They saw you walking into the palace grounds, they saw you talk to Suki, and they saw you walk the halls! Where are they?!"

"It wasn't me!" yelled Tyren. "It was…"

"You aren't making this any better," said Aang. "What are you hoping to accomplish?"

"I'm hoping you guys will get this through your thick heads!" shouted Tyren. "It wasn't me it was an evil me!" he said the last part very fast before he could be interrupted.

Zuko and Aang exchanged looks and someone…Sokka...laughed scornfully from behind them.

"Oh so you have an evil twin," Zuko hissed sarcastically. "Our bad, we didn't know."

"It's not an evil twin," Tyren said, annoyed. "It's some…evil thing that came out of shadowbending."

"What?" asked Aang. "What does this have to do with shadowbending?"

"Everything," said Tyren, relieved that they were listening.

Zuko paused thinking it over. "Explain," he ordered.

"Something…I don't know what…has been in me, or in the Shadow World or something for awhile. It's been stealing my energy since day one. It wanted to live."

Again Aang and Zuko shared unconvinced looks.

"It eventually got enough. It stole all of those guards life energy to make a body. It looks exactly like me except for its eyes. Its eyes are pitch black."

Zuko looked Tyren up and down, expressionless.

"So where would this evil take them?" he asked.

"Probably an island close to here. It would be unpopulated for some reason. Your people probably haven't colonized it yet."

"There are plenty of un-colonized islands in the Fire Nation." said Zuko.

"Are there plenty with overgrown plant life and that are dark as night, all the time?" Tyren demanded.

Zuko thought for a few seconds.

"Only one…" he said slowly. "The Isle of the New Moon. The plant life runs ragged on that island and no one could ever control it. The stories are that if you were to go in the forest in the middle of the day you would think it was darkest night. It's unpopulated because of some legends that evil spirits live there."

"We should start there," said Tyren.

Avatar and shadowbender locked eyes.

"I didn't do it Aang," Tyren said.

Aang looked for a moment like he wanted to believe it. But then Zuko cut in and the connection between the two was lost.

"You'll stay here until we find them," he said glaring at Tyren. "If your story checks out you'll be released. If not…Spirits help you."

"No…come on Zuko," said Tyren. "You're not going to be able to do this without me."

Aang and Zuko turned their backs on him.

"Guys!" yelled Tyren. They didn't look back.

And Tyren slumped against his chains in defeat.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Later on Zuko, Aang, and Sokka were all loaded on the fastest boat in the Fire Nation navy. They would be there in twenty minutes according to the captain, and immediately had shot off through the water.

Aang and Zuko stood on the bow of the ship while Sokka sat in a small room somewhere below deck.

Suki once again being in danger was eating him up. He was starting to wonder if it would be better for girls to just stay away from him. Bad things happened if they stayed too close.

Aang had tried to talk him out of his stupor, but to no avail.

Zuko had become the panicle of concentration.

Aang has always been baffled by the way his friend could become so determined, fierce, and abrupt in a short time. He said little and kept a scowl on his face.

And Aang…Aang didn't know what to feel.

He had become numb to everything else really; stunned by Tyren's apparent betrayal and the danger the love of his life was in. He also couldn't figure out why Tyren had put on such a show back in the Fire Nation.

Aang had been so close to believing him. His hand had twitched for the door handle, and he had felt bad for not believing him.

Then Zuko had woken him up and he realized saving Katara was all that mattered right now and woe to whoever had gone through so much trouble to try and ruin their lives again.

"Do you think Tyren was lying?" Zuko suddenly asked Aang.

"Ummmm….well," Aang muttered, unsure of himself. "I don't know. I…I want to believe him. But…," Aang didn't finish.

"But we can't," said Zuko stiffly.

"It's just difficult," corrected Aang.

"What if I'm wrong?" Zuko muttered. "What if I ruin things because I didn't believe him?"

"Zuko, it would be just as much my fault," said Aang, putting a comforting hand on Zuko's shoulder. "I could've stopped you, but I didn't. All that matters right now is saving the girls. We'll figure out everything else later."

"Right," growled Zuko. "Go get Sokka. We're here."

Aang saw the Isle of the New Moon looming closer and closer. Even from this distance Aang saw the Isle was tremendously over teeming with plant life; looking as though it would sink with all the weight it carried.

Aang breathed in deeply and went to warn Sokka. It was time to fight off evil again.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Katara stirred, her head throbbing.

At first she though she had gone blind. At least nothings seemed to be visible to her. Then her eyes focused in and she realized the reason she couldn't see well was from the multitude of trees and brush around her.

"Hello?" Katara called weakly, staggering to her feet.

A cold laugh greeted her. It seemed to echo off the trees around her and vibrate in her eardrums.

A cold sweat broke over Katara and she started running, hoping to not run into that voice. She knew who that voice was didn't she? It was…

Her thought broke off when she saw the people lying down in the clearing in front of her.

It was Suki and Mai.

"Suki! Mai!" Katara rushed over to her fallen comrades.

Katara grabbed some water from a nearby puddle and rubbed it over each of them. There didn't seem to be any lasting damage but Mai and Suki didn't stir when Katara moved them.

"Come on you guys, you have to wake up," muttered Katara, trying to revive them.

"You know it's kind of funny how everything on this island always finds this spot," commented a voice behind her.

Katara whipped around to see Tyren standing there, his travel cloak down and having an expression of not finding anything strange about the present situation.

"Hopefully your boyfriend has the same sense of direction," grinned Tyren.

"You little son of a…," began Katara furiously.

"Now, now," said Tyren, putting on a hurt face. "No name calling. I'd rather not hurt you. At least until after I deal with your boyfriends."

"They're going to stop you," said Katara, balling up her fists. "They are going to come here and kick you ass."

"What makes you say that?" laughed Tyren. "You think that because they beat _Fire Lord Ozai _that they can beat _me? _What rock have you been living under Katara? I'm not Fire Lord Ozai." Tyren flashed his gleaming teeth. "I'm much worse."

Katara blinked and looked Tyren up and down.

No…not Tyren. Not the Tyren she knew. This one was different.

His teeth were too white; unnaturally so. And his eyes were black as an abyss. The only time Katara had noticed his eyes were black he had been crazy…volatile.

"You're not Tyren," breathed Katara. "You look like him but you're not him."

The Tyren in front of her laughed.

"You're quick," he chortled. "It might take your friends four times as long to figure that out."

The evil Tyren cocked his head to the side as though he had just heard something.

"And unfortunately we don't have that time," he said. "Time for you're boyfriend to find us."

He moved in on Katara.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, backing away slowly.

"I want you to do something for me Katara," hissed Tyren. "I want you to…_scream!_"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To say the least, the boys were not in a good mood.

The forest was hindering their progress in anyway possible. In the few short minutes they had been trudging through, they had gotten covered in sweat, dirt, and plant.

Zuko was so angry Aang was worried he was going to burn the whole island down.

"Keep the firebending to a minimum," reminded Aang when Zuko about flipped out at a rock that had tripped him.

"I know!" yelled the Fire Lord.

Their bickering was cut off by a chilling scream.

"Katara," breathed Aang.

With a jolt the three of them were flying through the forest, jumping rocks and ducking ferns.

Katara screamed again.

"Katara!" yelled Aang.

She didn't scream anymore but Aang was still following the echo.

Finally they reached a clearing.

And in a crumpled heap lay Katara, Suki, and Mai.

"Oh Spirits," muttered Sokka.

They all rushed towards them but were stopped short by a shadow wall in their path.

"It took you all long enough," grunted Tyren, dusting his fingernails off with his cloak.

"You!" hissed Sokka venomously. "How did you get out?"

"Oh," said Tyren, surprised. "You didn't bring him with you? But…he told you didn't he?" Tyren grinned with glee. "He told you the truth and you didn't bring him with you?"

"What are you talking about?" snapped Zuko.

"He told you and you left him in some cell?" Tyren was howling with laughter. "Well this was unexpected. I figured I would have the opportunity to kill all of you at one time, but leaving him in the Fire Nation," Tyren wiped a tear from his eye.

"What do you mean?" asked Aang looking livid.

"Well Aang isn't it obvious?" chuckled Tyren.

A tendril rocked into the ground, scattering the three.

"Your friend…the _good _Tyren, was telling the truth." The Tyren in front of them barked with laughter again. "With him you might have had a chance. But you didn't believe him did you? And now you're going to die."

_Man, this is bad. Aang and company just screwed themselves. And Tyren isn't getting out of that cell without a shadow to bust him out. What will happen? Well you keep guessing while I type it out. Lol. Hope you all enjoyed it. R&R_


	20. The Battle Pt 2

_It's on!!! Evil Tyren has finally revealed himself to everybody, Tyren is stuck in the Fire Nation with no way out, the girls, Katara, Mai, and Suki, are all beat down and out, Ty Lee is on death's doorstep, Toph thinks evil Tyren is the good guy thanks to some weird shadowbending, and the guys are SCREWED!!! Man that was a long sentence. Lol. Enjoy_

**Chapter20: The Battle Part 2**

**Tyren Midnight 26ASC **

**Fire Nation **

Tyren had just about given up.

There was really no way out of this cell, and his…_friends…_had left him behind.

It had stung being called a liar, kidnapper, and an attempted murderer by Aang, Zuko, and Sokka, the thought of them being killed stung much more.

But there was no way out.

Zuko's engineers had done quite a job putting this hunk of metal together. There were no cracks in the metal for any shadow to pass through, all the candles looked ready to burn for quite awhile, and the chains gave Tyren no slack to try and break out.

After trying everything feasible to escape Tyren had quit.

It was no use.

They were all going to die.

_And then what? _Tyren thought to himself.

What would happen if his friends died? Would Tyren try and avenge them? Would he succeed? Or would he run? As much as Tyren hated to think that way there was no doubt he probably couldn't beat his evil self.

But could Tyren really be so spineless that he ran?

Tyren sighed and closed his eyes, still wallowing in his misery.

Then the guards began yelling.

"What…?" Tyren muttered squinting to try and see out the minuscule window.

"You, get back! Don't go near that door!!" a deep voice was yelling from outside the cell. "Don't make me put you under arrest! Back up!"

There was more muttering and the sound of something thudding to the floor.

"NO DON'T!" yelled a different voice from outside.

Then the tiny window in front of Tyren shattered as a rock, as big as a hand, came sailing through.

The rock bounced around a few times and took out four candles on the floor at Tyren's feet.

Tyren just stared at the rock, his mind reeling, when he felt something that made him feel alive again.

There were voices whispering in his head.

With a quick flex of his muscles, Tyren was freed by the shadows. They cut through the metal chains like a knife through butter.

The door to the cell flew open and a handful of guards stood there, spears extended towards Tyren.

"Don't move!" one of them yelled.

Tyren's eyes moved back and forth to each one of the guards and then threw his hands out.

The shadows expanded, filling the entire area of the cell. It was so dark that one of the guards closest to the door couldn't see a centimeter into the cell.

Then the shadows expanded and the cell imploded, sending metal flying everywhere.

Tyren was careful not to kill anybody but the force of the implosion sent most of the guards sailing through the palace walls.

The remaining ones were quickly knocked out by some quick movements from Tyren.

After that was done Tyren examined the scene.

"Yep," he muttered, "you can defiantly tell I was here."

"Spirits Tyren, were you loud enough?" came a shaky voice from behind Tyren.

Tyren turned to face his rescuer. It was Xu.

"It was you who let me out?" Tyren asked, raising his eyebrows.

"What did you think I was going to let you rot there?" chuckled Xu weakly.

Tyren cocked his head examining his friend closely.

"Why?" he asked.

Xu thought for a moment his hands wringed together.

"Well when I heard that you had…you know…almost killed Ty Lee, I was…," Xu paused for a moment. "I was pissed."

Tyren nodded.

"Naturally," he muttered.

"And then I started thinking," said Xu, laughing softly to himself. "I started thinking it didn't make sense. Why put on a show just to try and kill everyone…in the open? You could have easily gotten the job done with out all the theatrics. Kidnapping Suki, Katara, Mai, and Toph weren't necessary."

Xu took a step towards Tyren and looked in his eyes.

"So I began to believe you were innocent. I trusted you," Xu took another step forward, continuing to study Tyren closely. "Please tell me I wasn't mistaking. Please tell me I'm not a fool."

Tyren chuckled to himself and pulled Xu in a quick embrace.

"I would never do anything to any one of you. Especially you," said Tyren. "I'm glad you decided to trust me."

"Yeah well…I don't regret it," said Xu patting Tyren on the back.

"How is Ty Lee?" asked Tyren awkwardly.

"She's…well I guess she is…not good," said Xu softly. "They don't know if they can save her because of all the blood she's lost. And they're afraid to fix her leg because if they do it wrong she could lose even more blood. They said…the odds aren't in her favor."

Tyren closed his eyes and breathed in shakily.

His evil counterpart may have permanently left his mark on Tyren's life. If anything happened to Ty Lee…

"So what now?" asked Xu.

"Now," said Tyren examining the moon, shining on them. "Now I'm going to go and stop this evil thing. And I'm going to save everyone and possibly the whole world."

"Should be easy," snorted Xu.

"I don't want you to come," said Tyren.

Xu looked for a moment like he would argue but then shrugged.

"I would be more of a hindrance anyway," he clasped a hand on Tyren's shoulder. "You pay that son of a bitch back for me!"

"I will," promised Tyren.

"I'm going to go check up on Ty Lee again," Xu said somberly. "If I don't see you again…I want to say…thanks. For everything."

"I would do it all over again if I had the choice," said Tyren. He really couldn't bring himself to look at his friend.

"I'll see you…when I see you," said Tyren.

"Good-bye," said Xu and he trudged up towards the castle.

The wind picked up again and Tyren knew the time would be upon him soon.

Either he would win and banish this evil, or he would die. Surprisingly Tyren didn't feel afraid to die.

What he was worried about was the pain. The pain it would bring his friends if anything happened to anyone. Tyren couldn't let that happen.

Tyren turned to find his friends when something caught his eye.

There were two cloaks fluttering in the breeze close by to him.

Tyren walked up and examined them.

One was a dark red and the other black.

Tyren's hand at first went for the red one but then paused.

Something was telling him this wasn't the one for him.

Tyren closed his eyes and breathed in a deep breath.

The next moment there was no one in the courtyard but the unconscious bodies of the guards and a single red cloak whipping around in the breeze.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Aang, Zuko, Sokka**

**Isle of the New Moon**

Aang, huffing and puffing, jumped out of the way of what seemed like the millionth shadow that night.

Evil Tyren had been slapping all three of the guys around like they were simply worthless flies and all of them were getting sick of it.

"Grahhh!" Zuko yelled blasting out a column of fire at evil Tyren.

The monster just laughed and whipped the fire away with his own shadow.

"You know I don't know what it is, but you all seemed a lot more challenging during those sparring days at the palace then you do now," laughed the evil Tyren.

Sokka came up from behind and tried to take a swipe with his sword.

It worked about as well as it had the first twelve times.

Evil Tyren easily evaded the attack, and then punished the non-bender with a shadow smacking into him with the force of a car.

Sokka again sailed over the horizon and was lost from sight.

"Spirits this is getting boring," yawned evil Tyren. "Why don't we make things more interesting?"

With a big arm sweep, shadows expanded out from evil Tyren that sent Zuko and Aang sailing back.

"What…are…you talking…about?" gasped Zuko.

"Well it is a little unfair," said evil Tyren, feinting fatigue. "Three on one, I mean come on."

"Screw you," Zuko spat at Tyren.

"Now come on, die with some respect," chided evil Tyren. "Maybe you'll have better luck fighting my friend."

With a gesture, Toph walked out into the clearing.

"Toph?" gasped Aang.

"It can't be Toph," muttered Zuko.

"Oh but it surely is," laughed evil Tyren. "With a few…modifications," he gestured to Toph's eyes.

Aang's jaw hit the floor.

What seemed to be shifting shadows were on her eyes, giving her the appearance of a monster.

"What have you done to her?" Zuko demanded.

"What?" evil Tyren shrugged. "I've simply given her the gift of sight." Evil Tyren's unnaturally white teeth sparkled in the moonlight. "And for the first time she can truly see."

"Toph, wake up!" yelled Aang. "It's not Tyren! Get away from him!"

"Like I didn't think of that," evil Tyren laughed. He gestured to Toph's ears. Similar shadows were there, curled up and looking like some alien.

"She can truly hear as well as see!" evil Tyren laughed.

"When I get a hold of you I'm going to…," muttered Zuko, taking a threatening step forward.

"Oh, Toph we seem to have some visitors," said evil Tyren, grinning maliciously.

"Great, some Separatist dummies," grinned Toph.

"Toph!" yelled Aang again.

"Why don't you teach them a lesson?" evil Tyren said. He made a quick movement and Sokka, who had been trying to sneak up on him again, landed in a heap by Zuko and Aang.

"Starting with that one," evil Tyren muttered.

Toph began to move towards the trio when a figure caught evil Tyren's attention.

"Well look who it is," he muttered.

Tyren stood tall, his black cloak billowing behind him, fury etched into every line on his face.

"You don't look surprised," Tyren called out.

"I never doubted you perseverance would get you out somehow," evil Tyren grinned. "But I do doubt your sanity. Why would you come here?"

"Because I'm going to end this," said Tyren, his eyes narrowing.

Evil Tyren laughed, his voice echoing around them all. "You think you can beat me? You _honestly _think you can beat _me_!? You don't have a clue."

"I can try," said Tyren.

"Well then if you want me…," evil Tyren said softly, grinning the whole time. "Then you'll have to go through her."

Tyren noticed Toph for the fist time.

"Toph…," he muttered.

"Toph, why don't you take care of our guest? You think you can handle that?" evil Tyren whispered in Toph's ear.

"What a Separatist pushover?" snorted Toph. "Please."

"That's what I like to hear," evil Tyren locked eyes with Tyren and kissed Toph on the cheek.

Toph blushed.

Tyren just about exploded.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" shouted Tyren taking a step towards his evil self.

Toph launched a wall of rock at Tyren.

He was so unprepared for the attack that the rocks hit him dead on and dug him three feet into the ground.

"Oh!" yelled evil Tyren. "Watch out now!"

"C'mon you…," Aang muttered as he and Zuko jumped towards evil Tyren again.

Again the battle was on.

Tyren was fairing much better that Aang, Zuko, and Sokka.

He was unwilling to fight back against Toph but was a seasoned pro at ducking and evading attacks. Multiple times he found an opening to take Toph down but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Please is all that the Separatists could bring?" snorted Toph. She launched some pebbles at Tyren at terminal velocity. Tyren brought up a shadow shield to protect himself.

"Toph please listen to me!" shouted Tyren. "You have to stop!"

But Toph didn't hear that. She didn't see Tyren either.

The shadows twisted her vision and hissed false words in her ears.

Toph saw an evil Separatist warrior, yelling battle cries.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," muttered Toph, continuing her assault.

Aang, Zuko, and Sokka where…losing, to say the least.

Evil Tyren seemed to know what they were doing before they did. Every blast of fire, every gust of wind, every rock, and every sword strike was met by some counter.

And they were running out of steam fast.

"You would think that someone would learn not to get to close to me after being tossed around for the fiftieth," evil Tyren mocked after knocking Sokka aside again. "Maybe you should give up."

"I will never give up!" Sokka shouted.

He charged and took more swings with his sword.

"Yes very heroic of you," commented evil Tyren dryly. "Sadly for you this isn't a story book."

He sent the sword flying out of Sokka's hands. Without his sword Sokka was a worse position then he was before. A simple, but powerful kick from evil Tyren was all it took to send Sokka flying and take him out of the fight.

"Sokka!" cried Aang. He tried to get close enough to his friends to make sure he was alright.

A tendril slammed into the ground right in front of him, blocking his path.

"I would worry about you," grinned evil Tyren.

Aang spun his staff around and sent a powerful gust of air at evil Tyren. Zuko quickly followed up with a powerful jumping kick, producing a giant fireball.

Evil Tyren didn't even move; simply brought two shadows together to make an impressive shield. When the fire and air had slammed harmlessly into it evil Tyren used the shield like a battering ram.

Zuko and Aang crashed to the ground ten feet away.

"Damn it Toph wake up!" shouted Tyren, still trying not to hurt the girl he cared so much for.

"Will you go down already?!" was Toph's reply.

Tyren and Toph locked hands; Tyren was straining to stay up and Toph was trying equally hard to force him back.

That's when Tyren noticed Toph's eyes. Shadows were there on her eyes…

Tyren immediately understood what had happened.

However, his revelation distracted him from the fight and Toph used her feet so first knock Tyren under his jaw and then launch him some distance with a rock pillar to the gut.

Tyren landed hard and saw stars winking in his vision. His already sore jaw was screaming in pain again.

"Finally," muttered Toph, still unaware of who she was truly fighting. "You're one tough henchman."

Tyren blinked away the stars and saw Toph advancing on him again.

"Sorry Toph," he muttered. He made a grabbing motion to the shadows on Toph's eyes and pulled.

The shadows did not want to come off.

Tyren felt like he was trying to pull a mountain towards him, and he grunted with the pain shooting through his arm, but he did not let go.

Toph was also yelling in pain.

She was clutching at her eyes but obviously couldn't tell what was there.

"What are you doing to me?" she cried.

Tyren's first instinct was to let go but he resisted, telling himself he had to.

Toph cried out in pain again still clutching her face.

"Really now Tyren is that very nice?" hissed evil Tyren.

Tyren glanced at what he was doing and realized why it was so difficult to pull the shadows off. Evil Tyren didn't want them to come off and was helping them stay on Toph's face.

"DAMN IT LET GO!" shouted Tyren.

"You first," evil Tyren hissed pulling harder. Toph screamed again.

"Zuko, we have to help…," grunted Aang, staggering to his feet.

"I know," muttered Zuko, wiping some blood from his lips. "What's the plan?"

"Distract him," said Aang simply.

"Good plan," grunted Zuko.

The two friends stood together and launched their final assault on evil Tyren.

Aang made a tornado of wind, letting it rage towards the evil being, for only the second time in his life letting his bending come out in a rage. Zuko quickly followed with a torrent of fire.

The two elements twisted and came together in the air, creating a tornado of fire.

Evil Tyren was not prepared.

Distracted by trying to keep Toph under his control, the fire tornado slammed into him and launched him out of sight into the underbrush.

Tyren immediately was able to yank the shadows off of Toph and Toph collapsed to the ground.

"Toph!" cried Tyren worriedly, crouching down next to her.

"Woah…," Toph muttered, disoriented. "What…what happened?"

Tyren laughed, slightly crazily.

"Uh, I got a headache," grunted Toph standing shakily.

"Come on we need to hurry and get everyone out of here," said Tyren, assisting her. "No telling what's going to happen next…"

Tyren's fears were confirmed when shadow tendrils launched out from the surrounding underbrush.

Caught unawares Toph was smacked around a few times and came to rest a good distance away from Tyren.

"TOPH!" he shouted.

Aang and Zuko tried to defend themselves but they too eventually succumbed to the assault.

"Enough!" shouted Tyren throwing out his hands. The shadows all froze in place.

Evil Tyren walked calmly out into the clearing, a slight burn on his shoulder the only thing showing he had taken a hit.

"You didn't think I would go down that easily did you?" he hissed. "Perhaps you hoped it would be that simple…but that would make you a fool," he snorted.

"This is going to end now," said Tyren furiously.

"Yes it is," said evil Tyren.

With a quick movement a shadow crashed into Tyren like a whip. He landed on his back, winded from the blow.

"You are going to die, and then your friends are going to die, and then the world will fall to me," said evil Tyren, advancing slowly. "I will rule, that is certain."

"You know I'm still trying to figure out how you came from me," wheezed Tyren standing up. "You're not me at all."

"Of course I'm not you," hissed evil Tyren. "Why would you think I would want to be a spineless creature like you?"

Tyren was suddenly caught by a shadow around his throat and pinned to a rock.

"I'm everything you should be. I'm your better half…your winning side…," evil Tyren grinned, "I'm your shadow."

The pressure around Tyren's throat increased.

"That's it," grinned evil Tyren. "I've thought of a suitable name. No longer will people call be by your name or associate me by you."

He locked eyes with Tyren, their black depths never-ending.

"My name is Kage."

_Thank you I finally found a name for this guy! Evil Tyren is very repetitive and confusing. So Kage is winning. Someone might die :0. But who will it be? Ty Lee? Aang? Zuko? One of the girls?...Tyren? Or maybe everybody!! Oh no. Hey for you guys who are junkies at finding the meanings of names Kage means "shadow". Clever right? And it's pronounced Ka-gay. Just so you all know. So review, review, review some more, because just a tip…time to review is running out :O. Thanks to everybody who reads. You all are awesome! _


	21. The Shadowbender Realized

_THE FINAL CHAPTER!!! Sorry it took so long to get up. My life was working against me! But its here now! I'm actually really sad. I had the time of my life writing this to you guys and I hope you all enjoyed the story. If you haven't reviewed by now then all I ask is review to this last chapter. This was an amazing amount of fun and I hope you all can say you liked it…at least a little bit. Quick warning...the chapter is really long. I wanted to just wrap it up on 21 so it's tons longer than any other chapter. So without further ado here is the exciting end to the story, __The Shadowbender_

**Chapter 21: The Shadowbender Realized**

**Tyren, Kage27d ASC**

**Isle of the New Moon**

Tyren knew this was it.

It was the final chapter, the deciding fight, the point of no return. Death or victory was all that sat in front of him.

Really in the few seconds that Tyren felt the newly named Kage try and crush his throat, he wasn't upset. No adrenaline had kicked in yet, instead a kind of ill-timed humor had taken over Tyren's mind.

He couldn't stop laughing to himself about all the people that had feared death and talked about not wanting to die. Some claimed that you could see death coming and maybe get out of his way.

In Tyren's mind that was the funniest thing in the world, because here was death right in front of him.

_Hey Death looks an awful lot like me _he giggled to himself.

Then the humor faded.

_Spirits I'm going crazy _was Tyren's next thought.

"Good-bye Tyren," hissed Kage and the pressure on Tyren's throat reached its peak.

"_So you're just going to die?" _mumbled something in Tyren's ear. It was a deep voice and somewhat familiar.

_Well what am I supposed to do? _Tyren thought back.

"_I don't know," _the voice growled sarcastically. "_Maybe you could fight back? You are a shadowbender too you know." _

Tyren turned his head a fraction of an inch and saw a shadow curled up next to his ear.

"Thanks," he gurgled.

"What?" snapped Kage.

Tyren raised a shaky hand.

"Get off me you son of a…," Tyren said forcefully. Shadows flew out from somewhere over Tyren's head, sending Kage flying.

Kage however landed lightly on his feet, looking nothing more than annoyed.

"Oh, so he does fight," Kage said clapping mockingly. "You should have just died. It would have been smarter."

"But not near as much fun for you," wheezed Tyren, massaging his throat.

"No," agreed Kage, and then they were on each other.

It was like no other bending battle before.

Kage and Tyren both moved with an amount of ferocity that was unparalleled by any other bending art.

Kage was much more forceful, sending powerful wave after wave Tyren's way. In a short time he had destroyed much of the scenery. Tyren was much more graceful. He ducked, dodged, jumped, and weaved around Kage's attacks. His movements somewhat resembled Aang's airbending and kept him in the fight.

"You can't win if you don't attack," snapped Kage after a particularly close attack just missed Tyren's nose.

Tyren responded with some big arm motions to build some momentum for a low strike.

Kage easily countered the attack.

The counter was so quick that to Tyren one moment he was standing and the next he was on his back, a pain shooting through his chest.

"That was quite a build up you had for that attack," grinned Kage. "Why don't you make it a little more obvious next time?"

Tyren did a backward somersault to get out of the way of Kage's spike that was shot at him.

"Dance, monkey, dance," laughed Kage.

Tyren decided on a different approach.

He stood strong against Kage's next assault, copying much of what he had seen Toph do. When Kage realized what he was doing he changed tactics as well.

"Strong like a rock, right?" Kage mocked.

He quickly rolled under Tyren's quick shadow spheres and made a sweeping motion with his legs.

Tyren just wasn't quick enough and the shadow caught him around his ankles, sending him crashing to the grassy floor.

"Yes, some rock you would have made," Kage laughed.

Tyren sprung back to his feet, anger coursing through his veins.

"You look a little hot under the collar there buddy," laughed Kage.

Tyren responded with a vicious barrage of punches.

Kage was not prepared for a vicious assault and was forced to take a few steps backwards to block.

Tyren followed with piston like kicks, getting closer and closer to Kage all the while.

The first few kicks from Tyren were strong enough to actually hit Kage in his upper body, but he absorbed the blows and continued standing. Then when Tyren thought he was close enough he tried to do a spinning jump kick to Kage's face.

Kage saw it coming.

He skillfully grabbed Tyren by the foot and, using his own momentum, sent him face first into the dirt.

Kage didn't give Tyren time to recuperate this time. He smashed Tyren down for good measure with a shadow, and then launched him into the air. Tyren flew like he was shot out of a catapult.

As Tyren started to drop Kage hit him a few more times on the way down, and then sped up his progress to the floor. When the smoke cleared Tyren was in a crater.

"Come on now _Tyren_," hissed Kage. "Is that all you're going to give me?"

Kage stepped forward menacingly.

"Some friend you are! You didn't even present a challenge to me!"

Tyren snapped up.

A shadow rolled off his arm and shot out at Kage like a power hose. The shadow made contact with Kage's face and he stumbled backwards.

Tyren sprung to his feet as Kage gathered his wits.

"Impressive," chuckled Kage, rubbing his jaw. "You may be interesting yet. But you won't win."

Tyren's response was a twisting strike.

Kage got his arm up to block it but the shadow didn't go to strike him. It wrapped around Kage's arm.

"Most impressive," grinned Kage, "But expected."

Tyren's own attack was used against him when Kage used his brute strength to launch Tyren up. As Tyren came down Kage twisted and hit him like a baseball.

Again, Tyren sat in a crater on the hillside.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back in the Fire Nation palace, Ty Lee lay at the line of death and life.

The doctors had done the best to stabilize her, but her broken leg was making bleed on the inside and some of the cuts across her body were still oozing blood.

However, she was breathing easy and the room had taken a peaceful, almost sleepy atmosphere.

Xu sat in the corner, watching Ty Lee's chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. Then a nurse came in for one of her periodical checks on Ty Lee.

It was routine; something she had been doing every half an hour. But this time something happened.

"Doctor!" she suddenly shouted. "Get the doctor in here now!"

As though by magic, a team of nurses and a doctor were in the room instantly.

"What are her numbers," the doctor demanded.

One of the nurses handed him a clip board. The doctor's face went livid.

"You better keep her blood pressure from going down to much more or we are going to have a serious problem!" he shouted.

The nurses continued to look over Ty Lee, doing their best to stabilize her. Xu was forgotten about in his corner.

But he was there. And no tears fell as he watched the doctors try and save the life of the women he cared about, even though he thought they should.

Instead, he was struck by a strange thought.

The shadows seemed to have changed, in a way that the busy doctor and nurses wouldn't notice.

Xu had the creepiest feeling that all the shadows, including his, were crouching over every living thing in this room; seeming to be dark predators hunched over their meal.

And Xu did something he hadn't done since he was a kid.

He prayed to the Spirits for help.

He prayed they would help Ty Lee.

And he prayed that they were helping Tyren.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You want to stay down this time?" Kage growled.

"I won't quit," gasped Tyren.

"What do you think this is Tyren?" snapped Kage. "Do you think you're in some bedtime story? Do you think you can just say you won't quit and I'll give up? You are going to DIE!"

Tyren didn't respond, instead standing up and taking a position he had seen Toph take when she was defiant in a battle. His feet were firmly set and his hands were at his side, balancing him out.

Kage studied him with narrow eyes.

"You are a fool," he spat.

Then the next second he wasn't standing in front of Tyren. Tyren waited on tether hooks for something to happen.

Something struck Tyren on the back of his head.

Kage had transported right behind Tyren and smashed that back of his head with his leg. Tyren tried to turn and grab a hold of Kage but he was already gone again.

Once again Tyren felt Kage's foot connect with the back of his head. Then he was gone and standing on Tyren's right.

"Peek-a-boo," he mocked. Then his fist connected with Tyren's jaw.

He stumbled away before Kage, again appeared in front of him. This time Kage you all his strength to kick Tyren right in the chest.

Tyren felt his breath catch and he stumbled to the ground.

Tyren felt his rage burning like a pillar of fire in his chest. He knew something was wrong though.

Usually when he felt this kind of rage…something took over; something that seemed more powerful and more mastered then him.

"Disappointed someone's not coming to save you," mocked Kage, seeming to read Tyren's thoughts.

"I told you I was the rage; I was the power that took over whenever you wanted somebody hurt. With me gone and out of your system you're just plain…old…Tyren."

Another tendril smashed into Tyren, causing him to fall again.

Kage was suddenly standing on top of his chest, not letting air in.

"You know why you're losing Tyren?" Kage asked. "It's because you're too weak and too spineless!"

Tyren tried to push Kage off but found his hand was strapped down by a shadow.

"You've never truly understood all that you are and you still don't understand it," hissed Kage venomously. "Just look at the way you fought."

Tyren tried to kick up but it was pointless. His lungs felt like they were on fire and he couldn't tell how much longer he could stay conscious…or alive.

"You didn't fight as the thing you are," continued Kage, oblivious or not caring to Tyren's discomfort. "You didn't fight like a shadowbender and that is why you are going to die now."

Kage looked down and grinned at Tyren's confusion.

"Let's face it Tyren," Kage said. "You fought like an airbender, ducking and weaving around. You fought like an earthbender, trying to stay strong and meet me head on. You tried fighting like a firebender, using all your aggression. You even tried fighting like a waterbender but you were still no match."

Kage crouched down closer to Tyren's face, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet and the top of Tyren's chest.

"And now I'm going to kill you," hissed Kage.

He jumped off and Tyren was pulled up into a standing position. With a flick of his wrist Tyren was tossed backward like a ragdoll.

"Good-bye Tyren," said Kage. With that a spiked tendril shot right at Tyren's heart.

Tyren closed his eyes and was surprised when he didn't feel anything.

_So this is dying? _he thought to himself.

"Open your eyes you idiot!" snapped a voice that was not Kage.

Tyren's eyes did open and was surprised to see it was Master Niy.

"Master…how did you get out here?" Tyren asked.

"What did you think I had to stay in the Shadow World?" demanded Master Niy. He was in the shape of a stout bull frog, and was glaring at Tyren.

"Well I just didn't think you would come out here," Tyren muttered. That's when he remembered what he had been doing. "Hey what about…,"

Tyren stopped when he looked around. There was no one else in the clearing.

"What the…?" he choked.

Tyren looked back at Niy.

"Was it all a dream?"

Master Niy croaked in annoyance. "No it wasn't a dream you imbecile! I just borrowed you for a second. Time is taking a break for me."

"But why is no one else…?" Tyren began.

"So you don't do something stupid like try and mess with something while time is frozen," snapped Master Niy.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" mumbled Tyren. Niy changed into a crouching tiger.

"I wanted to talk about what the _hell _you are doing in this fight," he growled.

"I…," Tyren paused. "I'm losing," he finished lamely.

"That's an understatement," snorted Master Niy. "You're getting you self-righteous ass beat."

"Same thing," muttered Tyren.

Master Niy got close to Tyren his nostrils flaring. He looked deep into Tyren's eyes and Tyren felt like he was looking into a sky filled with purple stars.

"He's right you know," Master Niy said finally.

"Kage," Master Niy answered Tyren's puzzled face. "He's right about you."

"He's not…," began Tyren hotly.

"He's right about you not fighting like a shadowbender," cut in Master Niy. "And he's right that you are being spineless."

Tyren was so confused and angry that he couldn't seem to find his voice; his mouth just moved like a goldfish.

"You've been fighting with all of your friends' techniques," Master Niy took the shape of a crow and perched close to Tyren. "But that isn't who you are Tyren. You aren't a firebender, waterbender, earthbender, or airbender. You are a shadowbender." Master Niy said the last part very slowly.

"But…" Tyren began weakly.

"I know you're scared of what you can do," cut across Master Niy. "And that respect for what you can do is what makes you unique. But you can not let that fear or respect hinder you. Otherwise you are only just as good as everybody else."

Tyren bowed his head.

"You can not be spineless," hissed Master Niy becoming a large snake. "You must not be weak."

"But he's powerful…really powerful," mumbled Tyren.

"He is no more powerful than you," Master Niy snapped. "He came from you Tyren, so he is only as good as you. The difference is that he is not shunning away that he is a shadowbender. He has embraced it."

"I don't know if I'll win," grunted Tyren.

Master Niy was now a dragon, intertwined around Tyren. He got eye level and for the first time Tyren heard some caring in his voice.

"Tyren you were created with this gift to win. You were blessed with this gift. It can also be a curse but you still have to live with it. So it's your choice. Will you become a shadowbender…or a corpse?"

Tyren didn't look up.

"He said he was my better half. He was that stronger side of me…I can't beat that part of me."

"You think he was in complete control," snorted Niy. "You fought him off at the wedding remember? It was never fully him. That extra strength you felt was the shadows helping you. They've become…attached to you. But you've been blocking them out. Haven't you noticed Tyren? The shadows have stopped whispering."

Tyren did notice now that he stopped to think about it.

"Embrace what you are Tyren," said Master Niy. "Respect it…fear it…but don't shun it."

Tyren looked up, new determination in his eyes.

"Put me back," he commanded.

Master Niy shifted to his human form. He studied Tyren closely and then put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good luck," he said.

The world began to slowly spin, as it had many times before for Tyren.

All colors and sounds faded away and Tyren closed his eyes, listening to the world _whoosh _around him.

Then it stopped and Tyren opened his eyes.

BANG!

Tyren barely managed to pull his head out of the way of the oncoming tendril.

"Hey, you woke up," grinned Kage. "Going to look death in the face this time?"

Tyren glared at Kage. This needed to end…now!

Gritting his teeth Tyren grabbed the shadow gripping his throat and peeled it off.

Kage's eyes widened in obvious surprise, and Tyren successfully shoved him off. Then with a quick kick, he sent Kage flying backwards.

Kage shook it off and came back at Tyren, rage coming off of him like a heat.

"You won't do that again," he promised.

Tyren didn't answer, but he didn't have to. He felt different…more in tune with what was happening and he thought he knew why. He was finally listening fully.

The shadows were whispering. And Tyren didn't block them out.

Kage's attack sailed over Tyren's head. Tyren then forced him backward with a few hard chops. Kage blocked them, but just barely.

He growled in irritation and sent a low kick towards Tyren.

Tyren jumped nimbly over the attack while his own sweeping attack made contact with Kage's ankles.

Kage stumbled to the ground and Tyren capitalized, smashing Kage into the ground with the shadows like he was trying to drive a nail.

When the dust cleared Kage was not there.

Tyren looked around, patiently waiting for Kage to make a move. All the while the shadows continued to whisper to him.

_He's waiting…he's waiting…he's waiting…_

_BEHIND YOU!_

Tyren ducked Kage's spinning kick and made contact with Kage's gut with his own roundhouse. Kage drew in his breath sharply, spun through the air, and was gone again.

_He's waiting…he's waiting…_

_LEFT!_

Tyren's fist found Kage's jaw before the latter could even try to attack. He stumbled to the ground, and Tyren jumped on him; his eye's narrowed in concentration.

His first two hits made solid contact with Kage's head but then Kage snapped up like a spring and gripped Tyren's entire face in a painful grip.

Tyren groaned in pain and he could feel his skull compressing.

"You are going to die now Tyren!" hissed Kage. "Without me giving you extra power you would have died days ago. But I don't regret it because now I get to kill you myself!"

"It was never you!" growled Tyren; eye's still clinched in pain.

"What?" snapped a momentarily confused Kage.

"It was never you who made me strong!" boomed Tyren's voice, suddenly magnified.

Tyren's eyes snapped open and Kage blinked, completely stunned by what he saw. Tyren's black eyes were glaring back at him.

"Impossible," Kage breathed.

Then Tyren's fist, covered in shadow like some kind of glove, connected right in-between Kage's eyes. He flew a distance back and crashed to the floor.

He snapped up, angrily wiping sweat from his brow only to realize Tyren wasn't standing there anymore.

"What are you…?" Kage began. And then Tyren's kick caught him in the small of his back.

Kage whipped around angrily but his attack only hit empty air. Tyren's fist however landed soundly in Kage's gut.

When he doubled over, Tyren's shadow caught Kage in the face and sent him head over heels.

"No more Kage," said Tyren deadly, standing over him.

"No…," grumbled Kage angrily, holding his head. "No, it will not end like this!"

Quick as a snake his foot shot up bringing a tendril with it. Tyren barely managed to pull his face back and lost focus of his surroundings.

When he did recover Kage was standing a good distance away, looking smug.

"I think it's safe to call it quits for now," he called. "But don't worry Tyren, we will meet again!"

Kage began to twist and Tyren knew immediately what he planned to do.

"No!" he yelled, moving as fast as possible to catch Kage before he was lost.

As Kage completed his turn Tyren was barely able to brush his arm and push him off course. And suddenly both warriors were transporting wildly with only one of them in control of their destination.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The minute Kage's feet hit the floor he knew something had gone wrong.

He was not far away in the middle of the Earth Kingdom like he had wanted to be. He was in…

"No," he breathed. He winced visibly and gripped his side.

"What's the matter Kage?" mocked Tyren darkly. "Is the Shadow World not your home as well?"

"A worthy gesture Tyren, but futile," gasped Kage. He twisted around quickly but didn't transport; he just turned on the spot stupidly.

"You're not going anywhere Kage," said Tyren. "This is where it ends."

The two halves of Tyren began circling each other like two tigers, waiting for the moment to strike.

"There can only be one shadowbender Kage, that is the way things were ment to be," said Tyren, watching Kage's every twitch. "That is why I woke up alone in that cave. You aren't ment to be here with me."

"That's why I am going to kill you!" Kage said venomously.

"You can try," said Tyren plainly, "But I won't let you succeed."

"You can try," mocked Kage. Then they pounced on each other.

The two met in the middle and when they locked hands, a kind of mini explosion went off. But instead of flying away from each other, Kage and Tyren felt magnetized to each other while an eerie wind blew their cloaks around.

Lightning began generating from the twos connected grip, not harming them, but flashing dangerously.

Then the Shadow World seemed to try and pull itself apart.

The black shadows that Kage and Tyren were standing on suddenly pulled off behind Tyren, as though they were some force trying to assist him. At the same time the strange purple sky gathered behind Kage, looking like a strange living aura.

Tyren knew that the Shadow World had turned into a balance beam. And he could not afford to fall out of place.

So, the two stood in a deadlock, the Shadow World raging against itself and lightning shooting from their connected grip.

Then Kage began to push.

Tyren felt the pressure building around him and fell to a knee. Kage had his teeth bared evilly, his eyes opened wildly; his purple aura advancing on Tyren's shadows as well.

"You can't beat me Tyren," hissed Kage. "You are too weak to be a shadowbender! I am the true form of you that was ment to control this power!"

Tyren groaned with the stain he felt on his arms and his other leg gave out, planting him on both knees. Kage was now trying to push Tyren down; the purple aura taking more and more of the world surrounding both men.

"Your caring has made you weak," spat Kage. "You aren't worthy to be a shadowbender. But I will relieve the world of your spinelessness!"

Kage's efforts seemed to double and Tyren felt his body reaching a breaking point. Surly no human being was ment to feel this much punishment in a life time?

Sweat was dripping of Tyren's brow and the thought crept into his head of how nice it would be to just give up. How nice it would be to stop the pain…the fighting…the confusion…

"No," growled Tyren, eyes snapping open angrily.

He would not give up. He would not stop. Not yet…

With a herculean effort, Tyren managed to get back to only one knee. The shadows behind him pushed pack as well.

Kage's face was priceless, etched in complete shock and his resolve wavered for just a moment. It was enough.

Tyren was now back on both of his feet, straining to push back Kage.

"You can't defeat me Tyren," breathed Kage, but his voice was void of certainty.

"Yes I can," growled Tyren. "And I will!"

Kage was now the one being forced back, his eyes filled with…was it fear? Or anger?

Then with a final heave Tyren forced Kage to the ground.

The lightning abandoned its playful sparkle and now began to fry Kage thoroughly. The shadows seemed to swallow the purple like a giant beast, surrounding everything in darkness, except for Kage.

Kage screamed in agony, the lightning coursing through him. Tyren felt Kage's scream coming from the bottom of his stomach.

And then everything stopped.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Xu was now really worried.

There was no doubt now that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. The shadows in Ty Lee's crowded hospital room were beginning to become more and more vivid.

More real…

More than once Kage was sure that the shadows had reared like an ugly head and tried to snap at one of the nurses, but nothing had come of it.

And Ty Lee's condition did not improve.

"Come on Ty Lee," whispered the doctor. "Come on!"

Xu closed his eyes, thinking for sure that this was the end. Tyren must have failed. And now Ty Lee was going to die…

"Doctor!" yelled the nurse.

"Get an electrical charge stat," yelled the doctor. "We only have a few minutes to get her heart beating again!"

Xu felt a tear roll down his cheek. So it was over…

All of it was over…

"Wait…," gasped one of the nurses. "Is she...?"

"Oh Spirits," muttered the doctor. "She's breathing! But how...?"

Xu's eyes snapped back open. Sure enough Ty Lee's breath had begun to rise and fall steadily again.

"But we didn't do anything," muttered one of the older nurses. "How…?"

Xu knew how but he didn't say.

The shadows had returned to normal.

It really was over…

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kage was breathing heavily; twitching on the floor of the Shadow World.

Tyren stood over him, uncaring, but still slightly disturbed to see himself twitching like Kage was.

"You're done Kage," said Tyren simply. "It's over."

"It will…never…never…be over," gasped Kage. "I will…will…find you….some…some-….somehow."

"You will never harm the people I love again," said Tyren firmly.

"Love…," Kage's laugh turned into a gargle and blood flew from his mouth. "Love…means…it means…nothing."

"It's what stopped you," said Tyren darkly. "You just didn't know it until it was too late."

"You will never….you won't…ever…be done…with me." Kage groaned and twitched again.

Tyren just watched him suffer.

Then clawed hands shot out from under Kage, griping him. Kage screamed in pain and his eyes widened at the black hands of what looked like some demon that were gripping him.

Then more hands shot out, grabbing and digging into Kage's flesh.

Kage didn't want to go and tried to fight them off. He gripped for the ground but found that all the ground around him had turned into some strange tar.

"No," he gurgled. "NO! NOOOOOO!"

Tyren watched in horror as Kage flailed around, trying to escape the evil hands dragging him to some unknown depths. A giant hand suddenly came out and gripped Kage by the top of his head.

"HELP…..ME….!" he pleaded, reaching out for Tyren. Tyren, however, was immobile.

Kage was almost completely under, his head being the only thing sticking up.

Then a black shape extremely muscled and covered in tar shot up. He had no features besides a highly toned muscled body, gleaming white teeth shaped like some vampire, and glowing dark blue eyes. He locked eyes with Tyren, tar still caking his body and a demonic grin etched onto his face.

Then his hands locked together and slammed onto Kage's head, forcing him the rest of the way under.

Tar flew up like an explosion had gone off. Tyren covered his eyes but nothing landed on him. When he looked no one and no _thing_ was there.

Tyren was breathing heavily and almost collapsed. It was over… He had won.

"Congratulations," came Master Niy's voice from a larger than life centipede creature. "You didn't die."

"Thanks," muttered Tyren, unsure if that was a complement.

Master Niy studied Tyren with his beady eyes.

"Seriously, what you have done is a great accomplishment," he said. "After all, the worst enemy for men his himself."

Tyren nodded and then looked around expectantly.

"What is it?" asked Master Niy, transforming into an owl.

"Isn't this where you say you've accomplished a great task here is your reward?" asked Tyren.

"Oh…You still want me to tell you about your past," understood Master Niy.

"Well I think I've earned it," snapped Tyren.

"Tyren," sighed Master Niy. "It isn't that easy. I can not just tell you what you want to know. The best learned lessons are the one's learned yourself."

"That's what you told me before and I and all my friends almost _died!" _yelled Tyren. "I just want a strait answer."

"I'm sorry," cooed the owl. "But I can't."

Tyren closed his eyes and turned his back on Niy.

"Please Tyren," said Master Niy, intertwining around Tyren in his dragon form. "These things will be better understood if you do it yourself. Trust me."

Tyren looked at him but his expression did not change from stony.

"I need to go look after my friends," he said dully.

"Indeed you do," sighed Master Niy. "We will talk more later."

"Right," said Tyren, deciding himself that he didn't want to talk to Master Niy for quite some time.

Then the Shadow World revolved and was lost from focus.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aang and Katara sat in a hospital room back in the Fire Nation.

Katara held an ice pack to her head and was laying down, the night's events still playing through her mind.

"So Tyren saved us all," she whispered.

"Yeah," said Aang. His arm was in a sling but otherwise he was alright. "He saved us even after all the crap we did."

There was a few moments pause.

"Aang," whispered Katara. "I'm glad we decided to trust him."

"I am too," whispered Aang, kissing Katara on the forehead. "And I will never be able to repay him for saving you."

Katara smiled softly and closed her eyes again.

"And I will never be able to repay him for giving me the chance to ask you this," Aang added.

Katara opened her eyes again to find Aang on a knee, a blue ring in his hand.

"Oh Aang," whispered Katara, shocked.

"Katara, before anything else happens, "Aang grinned wirily. "Will you marry me?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zuko sat on the same bed as Mai, curled up next to her.

They were just looking at each other, soaking up the sight of the person they loved so much.

Then Mai leaned over to kiss Zuko's cheek.

"You look like hell," she said. Zuko's face was badly cut and bruised.

"You look good enough for both of us," grinned Zuko softly.

Then Mai's lips found his.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you," replied Zuko tenderly.

The door to their room was locked the rest of the night.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tyren was sitting in a hard chair watching Toph sleep.

The doctors had given Toph a herb for the pain, but it also made her sleepy.

Tyren wasn't tired, so he just watched her, hoping she would be as o.k. as the doctors kept telling him.

"Tyren?" came Suki's voice from the doorway.

Tyren glanced over to see Sokka and Suki standing at the door way.

"Hey guys," he sighed. "Are you alright?"

"I re-injured my leg," shrugged Sokka, motioning with a cane.

"I'm fine," said Suki. "How are you doing?"

"No lasting damage," said Tyren turning back to Toph.

"Well…Tyren we just wanted to say…," began Suki.

"Thank you. For sticking with us," finished Sokka.

Tyren smiled a small smile at them.

"I would do it again if I had to." And Tyren ment what he said.

"Goodnight Tyren," smiled Suki, hugging him quickly.

"Goodnight," said Tyren.

Then the silence took over again. But Tyren was feeling better.

His friends would be alright. Toph would be alright. He was alright.

He looked out Toph's big window and breathed easier as he saw the sky twinkling.

It was the end of the twilight hour, the day taking over the night.

_*Tear, tear* All done. :( __I'm sad. Hey, hey, hey don't start yelling at me! I know I left some giant loopholes in the story! Jeez! This is where my big announcement comes in. There is going to be…a sequel! YES! In it you'll find things like…the gang a good time after the war…more of Tyren's mysterious powers…an evil enemy that can not be named at this time…and…Tyren's origins! Yes for real this time! Hope you all liked this story. It was a good run for me. I loved every second of it. And please as a last request for this story if you haven't reviewed please do. A big shout out to gloomy maiko lover and Kimjuni2! Their support was amazing. Thanks guys. Well I'm done for now. See you in the sequel! Look for __The Shadowbender: Returning Past__! Shadowwriter13 out! :)_


End file.
